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December 24, 2007

Panel Looks At The Holiday Ads

FOX News Special Report With Brit Hume

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN HILLARY CLINTON, (D) NEW YORK: Where did I put universal Pre-K? Oh, there it is!

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BAIER: That was Senator Hillary Clinton's holiday ad; a lot of ads hitting the airwaves trying to separate each candidate. We'll start with the Democrats, look at these ads.

Some analytical observations about them from Washington Post columnist Jeff Birnbaum. Also, Mort Kondracke, Executive Editor of "Roll Call," and syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer, FOX News contributors all.

So we started, Jeff, with Hillary Clinton's ad where she's putting the packages under the tree. Tell us about what you think?

JEFF BIRNBAUM, WASHINGTON POST COLUMNIST: Well, I think she comes across as a policy grinch, where this is just wrong. It's wrong in every way. It's a little too distant.

Christmas is a really family time where people show their humanity, and she's he's not showing humanity here. She is showing that she is a Washington wonk, which is the last thing you want to show.

And it is also wrong, I think, for her to be giving gifts to the voters. The voters might give her the gift of their vote, not the other way around. It's noblesse oblige. It is completely backwards. And I think it may backfire on her.

BAIER: Mort, what do you think?

MORT KONDRACKE, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, ROLL CALL: Yes. It is not funny, and it looks as though, as Jeff says, she is "Elect me and I'm going to give you this gift," not something we're going to do together.

I'll just observe, but the way, that the reason that all these candidates are doing this at Christmastime is that the schedule has been so shoved forward. We have never had, so far as I know, candidates running Christmas ads before.

At the rate things are going and states move ahead, we're going to be doing Fourth of July ads in 2012.

BAIER: Right. It's interesting to watch the different type of ad. This one clearly is still about policy, Charles.

CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER, SYNDICATED COLUMNIST: Well, look, a gift is something that traditionally you pay for yourself. In this case, the gift is something the money for which is raised forcibly under penalty of imprisonment from third parties.

Now, there's another word for that. You could call it "theft," or perhaps if you're being polite, "appropriation" or "expropriation." And here she is, in a queenly manner, bestowing it on her subjects.

It's completely wrong. And I think she still has the best shot at the nomination, but if she loses, it's all in this ad: the fake authenticity, the forced smile. Her husband is a great actor, she ain't.

BAIER: So the consensus is it didn't work.

OK, let's go to Barack Obama.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In this holiday season, we're reminded that the things that unite us as a people are more powerful and enduring than anything that sets us apart. And we all have a stake in each other in something larger than ourselves.

So from our family to yours, I'm Barack Obama, and I approve this message.

MALIA OBAMA: Merry Christmas.

NATASHA OBAMA: Happy holidays.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: You have the family around the fire--Charles?

KRAUTHAMMER: It's the perfect ad. It's Norman Rockwell. The family is JFK in the '50's: the beautiful young couple, the beautiful children. All bases are covered, the message is simple and clear and resonates with the message of his campaign.

And even at the end, the two kids cover all the bases, Christmas and holidays, so that nobody is offended.

KONDRACKE: Yes. And it is unity, and it is all of us together, and it's your family and our family, and all of that.

What makes me a little cynical, although, you have to try to be cynical about these ad, is that there was a little bit of child exploitation here, using his family and aren't they cute and all that, and the kids participating in the campaign.

KRAUTHAMMER: John, John, and Carolyn.

BIRNBAUM: It was really, I think, very genuine in every sense, including--you didn't show it in this--but his wife speaks first, which is exactly all the way most all families work. And so I think it really was a very good ad.

BAIER: Let's finish it up with the Edwards campaign ad.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN, EDWARDS, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: One out of every four homeless people in our streets is a veteran, 37 million Americans live in poverty. Who speaks for them? We do.

This is the season of miracles, of faith and love. So let us promise together you will never be forgotten again. We see you, we hear you, and we will speak for you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: Mort, does this work?

KONDRACKE: I think it does. He's the populist, he is anti- poverty. It is a reminder of all of those who don't have what they ought to have.

Again, to be cynical about this, I'm surprised that he didn't finish this message by saying "And together, we're going to sue all the greedy corporations that might give poor people a job."

BIRNBAUM: And I think this was a pretty good ad, but it was missing two things. First, it was missing his wife, I think, who should have been in this ad. She's an important part of the campaign.

And his use of the word "we" is wrong. I think he meant "I." "We" makes it sound very much like royalty.

And I think otherwise it was a good ad. Charity for all is the right--but "we" is the wrong answer.

BAIER: Quickly, Charles.

KRAUTHAMMER: A little heavy, a little strong, but it is social gospel. Jesus as a reformer--it works at Christmas.

BAIER: OK. Coming up next, we'll look at how the Republican presidential candidates did with their holiday greetings. Stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE HUCKABEE, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Are you about worn out of all the television commercials you've been seeing, mostly about politics? I don't blame you. At this time of year, sometimes it's nice to pull aside from all of that and just remember that what really matters is the celebration of the birth of Christ, and being with our family and our friends.

I hope that you and your family will have a magnificent Christmas season.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: Well, there's Mike Huckabee's Christmas ad. He was really the first one to come out with a holiday ad, and it got a lot of attention, mainly because there was speculation about the floating bookshelf in the background.

But what about the ad, Jeff? Let's go back to our panel--what do you think?

BIRNBAUM: I think it was the first and the best of these Christmas ads. It really brought its point home. It targeted its audience, which were Christian evangelicals. It's and ad that, I think, works well for the primaries.

This is not one that he's going to repeat next holiday session, or anywhere close, because it's a little too religious. But for Iowa, it's perfect.

KONDRACKE: All of that is true, except that this isn't about politics. You're tired of politics. This is just a Christmas ad. Baloney--it is a political ad. They're all political ads.

And then he said that was not a cross in the background, you would have to be dreaming, you would have to be imagining things. That's another baloney. That clearly was a cross in the background, and if people didn't know it when they saw, before they pre-screened it, they should have known it.

KRAUTHAMMER: George and Laura Bush sent out a Christmas card which quotes the Old Testament and speaks of god, the creator. The Bushes are good Christians, but there's a certain etiquette in America where the small minority who are Muslim or Jewish, where as a matter of courtesy you speak in general ecumenical terms.

Huckabee deliberately did not, knowing that it would get him attention, which it did. It doesn't offend me in any way. I sort of admire the cleverness. He injects himself into the Christmas wars subtly in a way where he can't lose.

BAIER: OK, let's turn now to John McCain's ads. Take a listen.

JOHN MCCAIN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: One night after being mistreated as a POW, a guard loosened the ropes binding me, easing my pain. On Christmas that same guard approached me, and without saying a word, he drew a cross in the sand.

We stood wordlessly looking at the cross, remembering the true light of Christmas. I'll never forget that no matter where you are, no matter how difficult the circumstances, there will always be someone who will pick you up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: Now, Mort, that was not a floating book shelf, that was a cross.

KONDRACKE: That was cross. It was a reference, obviously, to John McCain's time in a prison camp during the Vietnam War. I think it's an enormously effective ad. It reminds you who John McCain is, where he came from.

And it does have a religious message, there's no doubt about it, and meant to appeal to Christian conservatives. It's like all the others: it's a political ad, but I think it's very effective.

BAIER: It's powerful--Jeff?

BIRNBAUM: I agree. It's a very, very strong ad. And it does remind--what was remarkable about that ad was that it showed you that John McCain was in a POW camp for six years. I think people might not have remembered that, but they will remember it when they go to the polls.

BAIER: It's hard to tie a specific surge in the polls to one ad, but do you think that his recent success could be tied to this ad?

KRAUTHAMMER: I'm not sure, but if he is surging this is going to help. It reminds you who he is, his heroism, his iconic status. And this is a genuine, authentic event in his life. It's not an invention of a cross floating on a screen. It's a real event in his life. Everyone believes it and associates with it and admires him for what it represents.

BAIER: OK, let's finish up with Rudy Giuliani's ad. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUDY GIULIANI, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There are many things I wish for this holiday season. I wish for peace with strength, secure borders, a government that spends less than it takes in, lower taxes for our businesses and families. And I really hope that all of the presidential candidates can just get along.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was with you right up until that last one. Ho, ho, ho!

GIULIANI: Can't have everything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: Charles, does that work?

KRAUTHAMMER: No, it doesn't work. What he should have had was a grinch jumping a turnstile in the New York subway, Giuliani jumping out and cuffing the guy, frog marching him to the station, and the line says, "Giuliani: he saved Christmas, he'll protect America."

BAIER: Mort?

KONDRACKE: That was as bad on the Republican side as Hillary's was on the Democratic side. It was wonky, it was policy-oriented. It just didn't go.

BIRNBAUM: You really have to like Rudy Giuliani to like that ad. And, as the polls show, not enough people do. And those people who don't like him are not going to be attracted by it, I'm afraid.

BAIER: Do you think he could be in trouble?

BIRNBAUM: I think he's definitely in trouble, and this ad is one of the reasons he's going to be brought down, because people are not seeing his humanitarian.

KRAUTHAMMER: Giuliani is not a ho, ho, ho! Guy.

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