January 22, 2008

A study in demagoguery: Chelsea Clinton, America Ferrera do Nevada

I'm afraid I'm going to have to leave a full analysis of the following video to professional media critics, but I know there's a lot of stuff there. It features America Ferrera - flash-in-the-pan star of Ugly Betty - campaigning prior to the Nevada caucuses with to-the-manor-born Chelsea Clinton. And, it features plenty of gender-based demagoguery, with various women informing us one way or another that Hillary is, in fact, a woman. Three black men and one black woman confirm that they are, indeed, voting for Hillary. It also features Chelsea speaking at a cosmotology school, with their mirror as a backdrop. Reflected in the mirror the largely non-white students seem more than a bit bored and one might imagine that that's the only occasion on which the daughter of a former president would have ever graced their school with her presence. One might imagine them not treating her as she no doubt became accustomed at Stanford if she had, for instance, just wandered in off the street to ask for directions. It also features Chelsea at a bar with a glass in front of her, matching a dream I had once. Note also that almost half the 54,000+ views are courtesy of Perez Hilton, who's now a supporter.

P.S. If you're just joining us from a foreign land or another planet, this is not a joke. This is the U.S. presidential race, 2008-style.

IT'S THE SCREENS THAT GOT SMALLER UPDATE: The Clinton 1A administration's inaugural ball in 1993 featured performances by Michael Stipe of REM, Don Henley, a Fleetwood Mac reunion (link), and the 10,000 Maniacs shortly after they had a #1 single and before Natalie Merchant left the band (link).

Posted to Politics at January 22, 2008 10:53 AM