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In the home stretch of an already heated and somewhat humorous campaign, I’ve taken unusual notice of ads recently.
It seems everywhere I turn, whether it be YouTube or television, Mitt Romney and Barack Obama are in complete control of the screen.
From Obama’s exploitation of Romney’s “47 percent” mishap to Romney’s counter with deficit bar graphs, the candidates are dishing out ridiculous amounts of money and pushing themselves into the spotlight in every way they can.
Gov. Romney has spent a total of $249.3 million on advertising, while President Obama has spent an even greater amount, adding up to $290.8 million. The monetary value of these campaign ads is astronomical, and the content is becoming questionable.
A recent ad released by the Romney campaign stars a mother and her baby girl.
The video commences with the mother holding and speaking to the child. “Dear Daughter, welcome to America. Your share of Obama’s debt is over $50,000 and it grows every day.”
The camera hangs over the baby and soaks in its apparently unsettled and depressed facial expressions.
It continues on to make a point of women’s unemployment growing to more than 5.5 million people, and it states that female poverty rates are the highest they’ve been in 17 years.
The ad concludes with the baby, now tearing up, being told that this is what Obama has done for women, and thus the mother herself.
I find this to be an intriguing angle, but I question the way it was delivered.
It’s no secret the president has good support among women. And although the gap has closed as of late, he still maintains a 50 to 44 percent lead over Romney in the field.
For this reason it makes perfect sense for the governor to attack Obama’s female support. But are we seriously using crying babies in politics now? Have we actually reached a point in our political system where the use of babies’ emotions toward their apparent futures is necessary?
The only way I could even begin perceiving this ad as appropriate would be to view it as a cover up for Romney’s robotic and business-like attitude. He hasn’t ever really made an effort to show his emotional side, and unless you count this crying baby as him doing so, then that can’t be the angle they were trying to take.
The issues mentioned in this ad can and should be expressed, but in a completely different way.
It’s one thing to strike fear in mothers’ by telling them their children are going to suffer for the president’s current policies, but it’s another to literally lure them in with a baby.
At least when Obama attacks Romney on women’s issues he uses fully-grown women as his visual aids.
Regardless of who’s right on these issues, distasteful ads such as ones starring babies have no place in the political process, and they leave a bad taste in my mouth.
If Gov. Romney wants to show the ladies he can be compassionate and emotional, he should ditch the baby and try reading some poetry.
A version of this article appeared in the Oct 18 issue of the Collegiate Times.
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Mitt Romney was a complete disaster in the second debate and it is not a coincidence that the international community deplores him. He embarrasses America and what we stand for. The President was sensational in the debate. He absolutely destroyed all of Mitt Romney's ridiculous arguments. Whoever is attempting to argue that Romney's plan is "better for people with pre-existing conditions" is fatally mis-informed. There have been major, international, independent studies that not only prove this to be untrue, but show that Mitt Romney's overall proposed health care "plan" would leave 72 million American people without *any* insurance coverage whatsoever by the year 2020. Also, when you pile this on top of his other Racist/Homophobic/Anti-Woman policies it is hard to imagine anyone in their right mind actually thinking it justifiable to vote for him. Finally, Paul Ryan voted, actually voted, on-record, **against** American women being able to be paid the same rate as American men for the doing the same work and Romney supports this. It is 2012. In ten to fifteen years he will be looked back on as a major embarrassment for human/civil rights; not to mention, decency.
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Although I agree with the author in principle that the overall tone and tenor of political advertising this election cycle has grown out of control, I believe he is missing a key component of this particular ad. While obviously designed to appeal primarily to female voters, this is not an ad simply about women's issues. I assume the reason a baby is used is to highlight the failure of politicians, particularly President Obama (and to be fair, many Republicans), in tending to the country’s debt. The author seems to gloss over one of the spot's first lines: "Your share of Obama’s debt is over $50,000 and it grows every day." There is little disputing that the growth of the national debt is a major issue to a large portion of the electorate today, and many of them view it as a significant liability being left for the next generation (i.e. the baby). Perhaps the ad should have only spoken the words rather than using an actual baby, but it is nevertheless an important point worthy of being made.
As for Romney not displaying enough emotion, what is it exactly that people expect him to do? Some politicians are very gifted at displaying empathy and wearing their emotions on their sleeves, while others are more guarded; the same is true of people in all walks of life. It's just my opinion, but I'd rather a politician embrace his own personality rather than concoct a phony display of emotion.
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None of that makes any sense.
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It's not enough that Romney's suggested policies make adults cry, now his campaign makes a baby cry in order to film it for his ads.
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Racist policies? Give me a break. I'm so tired of Obama supporters resorting to baseless accusations of racism. You're also lying your backside off when you say, "Paul Ryan voted, actually voted, on-record, **against** American women being able to be paid the same rate as American men for the doing the same work and Romney supports this." You're either willfully lying or you're ignorant of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. It has to do with the statute of limitations on suing for past discrimination. It absolutely does not allow women to be paid less than men for the same work. It's telling that you can't support Obama without lying, but I suppose if the facts aren't on your side...
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