Here's a link to another campaign commercial that's in the "I'm not sure what I think of this" category. Like the Michael J. Fox spot — which I'll be writing more about when I have the time — the commercial advocates a viewpoint that coincides with mine. In this case, it's that Joe Lieberman should not be in the U.S. Senate. Like the Fox commercial, my initial reaction was that there was something of a cheap shot being taken in advancing that view…but I'm not sure how to define it or that it's really all that cheap.
The commercial draws some striking parallels between things Joe Lieberman is saying about Iraq and statements that Richard Nixon made in defending Vietnam War policies…and most of the Nixon quotes seem to be from the period when the war was over, only we were letting more soldiers die so we could make a slow exit and try to not look like we'd failed there. The match-ups are amazing, almost as if one of Lieberman's speech writers was cribbing from Nixon. And yet, it's Lieberman on the ballot, not Nixon…and if Lieberman's positions are wrong, as I believe them to be, they're wrong because they're wrong; not because they resemble things Richard M. Nixon once said.
(I think one thing that put me off with this commercial was the shot of Nixon's face morphing into Lieberman's. That's almost becoming a cliché in attack ads, trying to link A to B in folks' minds by morphing A into B. The technology is fascinating but just because you can do it doesn't mean you should.)
On the other hand…
You could argue that a solid point is being made; that Nixon's rhetoric was shallow and dishonest, and that the comparison points that out about Lieberman's invoking of nearly-identical phrases. Iraq is only Vietnam II up to a point, but this analogy strikes me as being well within those boundaries. We do have a lot of politicians out there lately trying to have it both ways…trying to argue to the pro-war voters that the situation is still manageable while simultaneously pacifying those who believe it is not. What Lieberman's been saying lately in his speeches strikes me as the worst kind of pandering, "tell 'em sorta what they want to hear" claptrap that any office-seeker has ever attempted. So why not prove to people, via side-by-side comparison, how Nixonian it is?
Even if I ultimately decide I don't like his commercial, I hope his opponent — Ned Lamont — wins. Among the nightmare scenarios some have suggested is that the Senate winds up split and that Lieberman wins and then opts to caucus with whoever offers him the most perks and promises…which would probably be the Republicans. I have no problem with elected officials switching parties but given some of Lieberman's recent statements and question-dodging, I think the voters of Connecticut need to ask themselves if he really is an Independent or even a Democrat. Maybe that's what oughta be in these Lamont ads instead of Nixon's face.