Tale of the Tape: Hillary vs. Mitt

by Patrick Ruffini :: June 19th, 2007 3:35 pm

On techPresident, Alan Rosenblatt asks if anything a campaign has ever produced has gone viral. I’d say this has a decent shot.

Only two videos this campaign cycle were worth me pulling my apolitical wife aside, and saying, “You’ve got to see this.” The 1984 ad. And the Hillary Sopranos spoof.

The video breaks any number of First Laws of campaign web videos. It’s “overproduced.” And she’s acting. It’s nowhere close to authentic. But it’s funny as hell. And self-deprecating.

Over at HotAir, Allah is rightly peeved at the growing Campaign Video Gap:

This makes two creative, entertaining spots in a row to come out of her camp. She’s got this, Gravel has those kooky art-film spots, Richardson has his job-interview series, and our guys are dumping out clips from their campaign rallies. “Pathetic” doesn’t begin to describe it.

It didn’t used to be this way, but it’s safe to say that none of the Republican candidates in 2008 have really gone out of their way to show a more humorous and accessible side. Republicans this cycle are trying to build cerebral, issue-based connections with voters while Democrats are building narratives and showcasing attributes. That’s a 180 from where we were in 2000 and 2004, and those elections didn’t turn out so bad for Republicans.

The best attempt at it so far comes from Mitt Romney, who over Father Day’s weekend released a video purporting to take us behind the scenes of his final decision to run:

Unlike the Hillary video, the Romney video is real and authentic, but it’s marred by a few easily-changed shortcomings.

First, it’s 13 minutes. Let’s remember that is a web video, not the Oscar for Documentary Short. And the good, really innovative part, Romney talking over the decision with his kids (which seems unscripted to my eyes) is stuffed in the final two minutes.

Second, the guitar strumming over Mrs. Romney does more to undermine the authenticity of the video than the Hollywood production values of the Clinton video. If you’re going to do a down-to-earth authentic home video, then stay true to form and do it without a soundtrack. If you’re going for a big splash, go all out, like the Hillary video, which likely took an entire morning of the Senator’s and ex-POTUS’s time. It’s the difference between the summer blockbuster and the art house flick — if you try to be both, you will fail.

Let’s see the Romney video recut, just the decision sequences, and no soundtrack, and let’s review once more.

Tagged: hillary clinton mitt romney online politics video

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