Harper gets a crush

September 14, 2008 6:54 AM

National Post hosting Harper version of "I've got a crush on Obama"Do video's such as these (the original here) really help persuade people to vote one way or another? I can't believe that someone would be so dough-headed to fall for this kind of nonsense, but that's just me.
posted by pezdacanuck (19 comments total)

Dont know about them influencing vote's, but the creator's seem to be having a good time, so good for them.
posted by PhatLobley at 7:09 AM on September 14, 2008

I was hoping this would be Harper singing about how much he loves Obama, but no such luck. Oh well.

Also, should I use a grocer's apostrophe in my post too? Seems to be the in thing.
posted by the dief at 7:12 AM on September 14, 2008 [1 favorite]

That's fucking stupid on so many levels. Harper:Obama::My anus:A baby's smile
Also stupid, but amusing when I made it.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 7:25 AM on September 14, 2008 [1 favorite]

Sorry, I was in a rush and video does not deserve a catasrophe :o)
posted by pezdacanuck at 7:45 AM on September 14, 2008

I can't believe that someone would be so dough-headed to fall for this kind of nonsense, but that's just me.

I can't believe you didn't post this on your own blog, but that's just me.
posted by beaucoupkevin at 7:53 AM on September 14, 2008 [1 favorite]

> I can't believe that someone would be so dough-headed to fall for this kind of nonsense, but that's just me.

You found it interesting enough to post about, so either you are expecting the Canadian public to fall for it or you don't know how to phrase a rhetorical question. For now I'm ruling out the possibility that your head is made of dough, but I'm willing to reconsider if further evidence warrants it.
posted by ardgedee at 8:05 AM on September 14, 2008

I don't know if Obama girl makes up the minds of a lot of voters, but she is certainly fun-to-watch and in the era where it seems like most people make their votes based on low information or some narrowly-defined preconception it doesn't hurt to get some alternate message out.

Also the idea of a young woman like Obama girl fawning over Harper just made me go "ewwwww". Same goes for the other party leaders, to a slightly lesser extent.

Maybe because I am not American - I found the Obama girl video very fun and original. In the Canadian context I would consider anyone doing that to be a shill and a sell out.
posted by Deep Dish at 8:07 AM on September 14, 2008

Do video's such as these ... really help persuade people to vote one way or another?

People pay attention to dumb commercials that sell leaders like hamburgers. They fall for dumb songs. Political buttons and billboards and bumper stickers are almost as old as buttons and billboards and bumpers. Maybe people also pay attention to dumb music videos. Brains can be manipulated in many ways.
posted by pracowity at 8:30 AM on September 14, 2008

Hey, "It's morning again, in America" is brilliant ad. It makes me proud to be American, and I'm Canadian, dammit.

This Norm Coleman ad, on the other hand...
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 8:37 AM on September 14, 2008

Les Misbarack!
posted by honest knave at 9:07 AM on September 14, 2008

I was hoping this would be Harper singing about how much he loves Obama, but no such luck.

I was confused, but honestly thought this was what it was going to be too.
posted by jamesonandwater at 9:22 AM on September 14, 2008

That's just embarassing.
posted by five fresh fish at 9:45 AM on September 14, 2008

Getting voters to pick A over B is only one potential goal of a political campaign message; another is to get supporters excited about the campaign, or to create some social cohesion within your base.
posted by aaronetc at 10:00 AM on September 14, 2008

Do video's such as these (the original here) really help persuade people to vote one way or another? I can't believe that someone would be so dough-headed to fall for this kind of nonsense

Why I do think appealing to the MTV generation with publicity like this helps:
...no generation has been marketed and Spun and pitched to as ingeniously and relentlessly as today's demographic Young.

David Foster Wallace's excellent The Weasel, Twelve Monkeys And The Shrub, Seven Days In The Life Of The Late, Great John McCain
posted by nickyskye at 11:28 AM on September 14, 2008

It's called galvanizing the base.
posted by furtive at 11:36 AM on September 14, 2008

Someone had the right idea but this wasn't it.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 11:57 AM on September 14, 2008

I'm pretty dough-headed myself.
posted by aubilenon at 2:08 PM on September 14, 2008

The Post has a crush on Stephen Harper. Film at 11!
posted by bicyclefish at 11:32 PM on September 14, 2008

Voters are getting younger (yeah)...but the new tactics are being developed to secure those votes (see MTV).
posted by hal_c_on at 2:03 PM on September 15, 2008