Thread: Sesame Street

Sesame Street And Presidential Politics
"One of these Things Is Not Like the Other..."




Side-splitting desperation: Obama runs attack ad starring Big Bird;
Update: Axelrod beclowns himself

Posted at 7:46 am on October 9, 2012 by Twitchy

Couranto@Couranto

#Obama calls #Romney an "amateur." Then releases an ad starring Big Bird. #Pathetic

9 Oct 12

Just in case you thought silly season was over, climb aboard and fasten your seat belts for the Obama campaign’s final descent into self-parody. Team Obama is out today with a new attack ad featuring … Big Bird.

Jay Caruso@jaycaruso


I cannot believe this Big Bird ad is real.

9 Oct 12

Oh, it’s real. And it’s spectacular. Spectacularly humiliating for the campaigner in chief.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=bZxs09eV-Vc

There goes the nursery school vote!

“Mitt Romney: taking on our enemies, no matter where they nest.”

This ad brought to you by the letters O, M and G.

Tom Bevan@TomBevanRCP

For real? The Obama campaign may have just jumped the shark. bit.ly/OkwwJp

9 Oct 12

The best part? The campaign is proud of this! Our aching sides! Team Obama thinks the 30-second video is so very clever and effective that it’s floating the rumor that the ad will appear on national television:

Peter Hamby@PeterHambyCNN

new Obama ad mocks Romney for Big Bird remark. running on national broadcast & cable, they say. youtube.com/watch?v=bZxs09…

9 Oct 12

Politico reports that the campaign is “calling this a TV spot.” But at least one member of the Palace Guard media desperately hopes it ain’t so. http://www.politico.com/blogs/burns-...us-137848.html

Chuck Todd✔
@chucktodd

Obama TV ad press releases usually include tag line about which states a TV ad is airing in. Nott included on Big Bird. youtube.com/watch?v=bZxs09…

9 Oct 12

Mitt Romney is talking foreign policy http://twitchy.com/2012/10/08/transm...ladimir-putin/ and President Scaremonger is making Sesame Street ads. Oh how we love the taste of desperation in the morning!

John Valerio@johnvalerio

What does @TheOnion do when real ads look like this? RT @PoliticalTicker: Big Bird the focus in sarcastic new Obama ad bit.ly/PRBRUN

9 Oct 12

Mr Mercandetti@DefendoLibertas

I seriously thought that was a 'Late Show' parody ad. This 'Big Bird' ad is a real ad from the Obama Campaign.

9 Oct 12

This is a takeaway we can believe in:

Conn Carroll@conncarroll


if Obama is so desperate and delusional that they are actually spending $ on this Big Bird ad, then the race is over politico.com/blogs/burns-ha…

9 Oct 12

Update: Double side-splitting! “Sesame Street” requests that the ad be taken down.
http://twitchy.com/2012/10/09/not-ti...e-big-bird-ad/

jennifer bendery@jbendery

Sesame Street statement on Obama campaign ad w/ Big Bird: We're nonpartisan and "have requested that the ad be taken down."

9 Oct 12

So, this happened: “Sesame Street” has requested that the Obama campaign take down its pitifully desperate ad featuring Big Bird. http://www.sesameworkshop.org/our-bl...C0i_9c.twitter

Sesame Workshop Response to Campaign Ads

Sesame Workshop is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization and we do not endorse candidates or participate in political campaigns. We have approved no campaign ads, and as is our general practice, have requested that the ad be taken down.

D’Oh! Not a sunny day for Team Obama.

Mockery quickly ensued.

NY for Mitt@NY4Mitt


Oh wow! Even on Sesame Street, #ObamaIsntWorking! "Sesame Street asks Obama campaign to take Big Bird ad down" thehill.com/blogs/blog-bri…

9 Oct 12

Kemberlee Kaye@red_red_head


Well now they've done it. Now they've gone and ticked off Big Bird thehill.com/blogs/blog-bri… #lulz

9 Oct 12

Charlie Spiering@charliespiering


RT @SeanGHiggins: So, let me get this right: Obama is doing so badly now that even #BigBird doesn't want to associated with him?

9 Oct 12

Moira Fitzgerald@Moira1987

This just keeps getting better and better! lol @BenLaBolt Sesame Street asks Obama campaign to take down Big Bird ad - thehill.com/blogs/blog-bri…

9 Oct 12

Nathan Wurtzel@NathanWurtzel


Scooter RT @BenjySarlin: I imagine a Muppet process server stopping by Obama campaign office today to drop off googly-eyed cease and desist.

9 Oct 12

RB@RBPundit


I, for one, am disappointed that Sesame Street has demanded that Team Obama take down the idiotic Big Bird ad. Too few have seen it.

9 Oct 12

John Hayward@Doc_0


You didn't get away with using Big Bird as a campaign prop, Obama, but don't worry. We're going to talk about how you tried.

9 Oct 12

John Hayward@Doc_0


You didn't get away with using Big Bird as a campaign prop, Obama, but don't worry. We're going to talk about how you tried.

9 Oct 12

Cuffé@CuffyMeh


Even Firedog Lake says FAIL. RT @FreeBeacon: Big Bird Asks to Be Left Out of Politics bit.ly/Rb1Nzd

9 Oct 12

Timothy P Carney@TPCarney


Who built that? RT @ProducerMatthew Sesame Street to Obama campaign: Take down "Big Bird" ad - bit.ly/OQQH3n

9 Oct 12

Cuffé@CuffyMeh


Beta male. RT @TabithaHale: Y'all. Our president just got smacked down by Sesame Street.

9 Oct 12

The Obama campaign’s Muppet obsession grew even more pathetic today with the use of Big Bird in a pitiful attack ad that Sesame Workshop swiftly denounced. Heh. It’s not easy being the Chicago machine.

Perhaps it’s time for Team Obama to come up with some new Muppets for the next attack ad — ones that won’t result in a stern letter from the Muppeteers. Once again, @TheMorningSpew kicked off a hilarious hashtag and the Twitterverse helpfully offered some suggestions for #NewObamaMuppets that reflect the campaign’s Chicago-style values.

http://twitchy.com/2012/10/09/no-mor...wobamamuppets/

Quote of the Day: “You’ve got to be kidding” edition

Posted by: Phineas on October 9, 2012 at 6:25 pm

America’s top issue

In the wake of President Obama’s shellacking at the hands of Governor Romney in last week’s debate, the Obama campaign has sought to show Americans that they are focused like a laser on the issue we all deeply care about.

What is that issue, you ask? A $16 trillion-dollar national debt that growing by the hour? A trillion-dollar budget deficits that show no sign of ending? A resurgent al Qaeda? Chinese aggression in East Asia? A failing war in Afghanistan and the potential loss of all we gained by our sacrifices in Iraq? Scandals in the Departments of Justice and State that have cost human lives?

Don’t be silly, silly! The President and his campaign are fighting for what truly matters: Big Bird. http://freebeacon.com/psaki-theres-b...s-on-big-bird/

“I will say it doesn’t change the fact that there’s only one candidate in this race who is going to continue to fight for Big Bird and Elmo, and he is riding on this plane,” [campaign spokeswoman] Psaki continued.

Psaki reminded reporters again of the campaign’s “love for Big Bird and Elmo,” then defended the concept of the ad.

“This election is about serious issues,” she noted. “That’s what the President talks about every day. That’s what his focus is on every day.”

It’s been said that the moment the McCain campaign lost the election in 2008 was when he made himself look ridiculous by suspending his campaign and heading for Washington during the September fiscal crisis. While this isn’t nearly as dramatic, people may just look back on the decision to make Big Bird a major talking point as the moment Obama lost 2012.

(And how Psaki could say that without choking with embarrassment or the reporters laughing in derision, I have no idea.)

UPDATE: Yep. This may be the moment they lost it. When even Chris “Tingles” Matthew says this is a Mickey Mouse issue… http://freebeacon.com/matthews-on-bi...-mickey-mouse/

UPDATE II: My friend Michael Ledeen compares this to Jimmy Carter and his killer rabbit. http://pjmedia.com/michaelledeen/201...ll-over-again/




**Posted by Phineas http://sistertoldjah.com/archives/20...dding-edition/

Romney camp mocks Obama’s focus on Big Bird
By Holly Bailey, Yahoo! News | The Ticket – 13 hrs ago

ABOARD THE ROMNEY PLANE EN ROUTE IOWA—Mitt Romney's campaign is mocking President Barack Obama's decision to release a campaign ad focused on the Republican candidate's repeated suggestion that Big Bird shouldn't receive public funding.

Kevin Madden, a senior Romney adviser, told reporters on board the candidate's plane Tuesday the campaign isn't taking the Obama's latest offensive seriously. "Right now, you've got 23 million Americans struggling to find work. You've got household incomes going down. You've got a federal deficit, federal debt that's over 16 trillion dollars," Madden said. "I find it troubling that the president's message, the president's focus 28 days out from Election Day is Big Bird."

On Tuesday, the Obama campaign released an ad trashing Romney for his suggestion at last week's debate that he would cut funding for "Sesame Street" as part of an overall effort to cut the federal deficit. It's a line that Romney has been saying on the trail for more than a year, but Democrats immediately seized on the Big Bird comment at the debate as proof Romney is ill-equipped to be president.

Privately, Romney aides acknowledge they understand why the Obama campaign is playing up the Big Bird line. The campaign's internal numbers showed the line didn't play well with voters, according to one aide, and Romney notably hasn't repeated it since.

Speaking to reporters on the plane, Madden said Romney would continue to focus "acutely on jobs and the economy and what he can do to create a more prosperous future for the American public."

"That is a much bigger focus," Madden said. "We are focused on the big issues that the American people are focused on."

Asked about the latest Pew poll which suggested Romney has new momentum after last week's debate, Madden said the governor and his aides are not letting the positive numbers go to their heads. "Look, this is a campaign that's never gotten too high when things are good and too low when things are bad. I think we remain--the governor, in particular, remains--very focused at the task at hand," Madden said. "You can't put too much stock in this idea of momentum. I think it's a very elusive thing. We still believe that this is going to be a campaign that is very close."

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/r...-election.html



Obama camp weighing request to stop Big Bird attack ad
By Olivier Knox, Yahoo! News | The Ticket – 6 hrs ago

COLUMBUS, Ohio—President Barack Obama's re-election campaign said Tuesday it was weighing a request from the Sesame Workshop—the people behind "Sesame Street"—to stop using the giant yellow-feathered mascot of early childhood education in its attacks on Mitt Romney.

The organization, in a blog post, asked both Obama and Romney to discontinue any use of the beloved characters in their war for the White House.

"Sesame Workshop is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization and we do not endorse candidates or participate in political campaigns," Sesame Workshop said. "We have approved no campaign ads, and, as is our general practice, have requested that both campaigns remove Sesame Street characters and trademarks from their campaign materials."

"We have received that request. We're reviewing it," Obama campaign spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters aboard Air Force One as the president headed to Ohio for a campaign swing.

"I will say it doesn't change the fact that there's only one candidate in this race who is going to continue to fight for Big Bird and Elmo, and he is riding on this plane," she said.

Obama has been hitting Romney for saying, in their first debate, that he would cut federal subsidies to PBS, Big Bird's nest, as part of efforts to reduce the massive government deficit.

"When Mitt Romney was given the opportunity to lay out how he would address the deficit when he said, I will take a serious approach to it, his first offering was to cut funding for Big Bird," Psaki said. "And that is absurd."

[Related: Political junkie? Sign up for the Yahoo! News Daily Ticket newsletter today]

Republicans—and some journalists—have expressed amazement that the president has harped on the Big Bird exchange since the debate. Romney was overwhelmingly seen as the winner of their first face-to-face confrontation. The second debate is on Tuesday Oct. 16.

The Obama campaign unleashed a new ad featuring Big Bird and hitting Romney for allegedly being tougher on Sesame Street than on Wall Street.

"There's been a strong grassroots outcry over the attacks on Big Bird," said Psaki. "This is something that mothers across the country are alarmed about, and we're tapping into that."

"This is about priorities and choices," she said. "And when your first offering for your plans to bring down the deficit is a combination of a $5 trillion tax cut for millionaires and billionaires and cutting funding to Big Bird, it's hard to take your plan seriously."

A campaign official had previously told Yahoo News that the reason for the focus on Big Bird stemmed from the fact that entertainment media had zeroed in on just two debate moments: Each politician's remarks on the Obamas' wedding anniversary, and the Big Bird exchange. And many independent voters who make up their minds at the last minute tend to be less partisan and often get their news about politics from those outlets.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/o...-election.html

COLUMBUS, Ohio—President Barack Obama's re-election campaign said Tuesday it was weighing a request from the Sesame Workshop—the people behind "Sesame Street"—to stop using the giant yellow-feathered mascot of early childhood education in its attacks on Mitt Romney.

The organization, in a blog post, asked both Obama and Romney to discontinue any use of the beloved characters in their war for the White House.

"Sesame Workshop is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization and we do not endorse candidates or participate in political campaigns," Sesame Workshop said. "We have approved no campaign ads, and, as is our general practice, have requested that both campaigns remove Sesame Street characters and trademarks from their campaign materials."

"We have received that request. We're reviewing it," Obama campaign spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters aboard Air Force One as the president headed to Ohio for a campaign swing.

Both campaigns have been using the COPYRIGHTED charachters - and both have been asked to stop.

I would have thought the image of big bird was copyrighted/trademarked and not to be used by anyone except those granted by sesame street?

As usual - Obama ( his campaign ) has deceided that they are above the law.

A campaign mired in its own mindlessness

Practically everyone on TV and internet has condemned the silly new ad over-dramatizing the threat to Big Bird and somehow equating Bernie Maddow whom Mitt Romney is doing nothing about (perhaps because the Bush administration already arrested him. And as Ed Morrissey points out, the Obama administration declined to prosecute Jon Corzine http://dailycaller.com/2012/10/09/wa...ugh-on-either/) to center his war on Big Bird.

This is an absolutely moronic ad. Apparently, the Obama campaign thinks it is edgy and will excite their youth base while tapping into a supposed "strong grassroots outcry over the attacks on Big Bird." http://www.politico.com/politico44/2...ry-137913.html

I am not sure why they want to continue to remind people of the worst moment of the campaign for their guy, but that's fine. However, the longer that they focus their attack on big Bird, they are ignoring the issues that people are really concerned about. They've provided the RNC with the opportunity to make this contrast between what concerned voters are focused on and what the Obama campaign is talking about. http://rncresearch.tumblr.com/post/3...RNC%20Research

And the contrast with today's hearing on the murders of four Americans in Benghazi is stark.

Apparently, the Obama campaign thinks it will play big on comedy shows and among young people, and perhaps it will. When my 10th graders discussed last week's debate in class, they all remarked on Romney's comments on Big Bird. It was actually a surprise to them that the federal government subsidized PBS. They thought it was paid for by "viewers like you." But they laughed out loud at the idea that Sesame Street would collapse without a federal subsidy. They know how many Sesame Street-related toys there are out there. Obama is defending the one show on PBS that is the best able to survive without any federal help. The contrast between Republicans who are willing to make an unpopular choice to cut federal spending and the Democrats who aren't even willing to cut money to a wealthy corporation that has plenty of products out there to sell to fund their show is quite telling. The Democrats are stuck with arguing both that the federal subsidy is so small - $445 million or .01 percent of the federal budget - that it is not worth cutting and that the money is so important to PBS that it shouldn't be cut. However, Sesame Street doesn't need that money. Even the head of Sesame Workshop has said that they'll be just fine without federal subsidies.

Not much, according to an interview CNN did with Sherrie Westin, executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Sesame Workshop.

"Sesame Workshop receives very, very little funding from PBS. So, we are able to raise our funding through philanthropic, through our licensed product, which goes back into the educational programming, through corporate underwriting and sponsorship," Westin told CNN. "So quite frankly, you can debate whether or not there should be funding of public broadcasting. But when they always try to tout out Big Bird, and say we’re going to kill Big Bird – that is actually misleading, because Sesame Street will be here."

Even PoliFact is rating the Obama claim that Romney wants to fire Big Bird as a "Pants on Fire" lie. http://www.politifact.com/new-hampsh...fire-big-bird/

In its latest attempt to portray Romney as heartless, the Obama campaign is making a serious allegation that he wants to put one of America's most beloved children's characters in the unemployment line.

Romney has been clear that his plan for PBS is not specific to Big Bird (nor to Jim Lehrer for that matter). He simply wants to end federal subsidies.

It's a ridiculous stretch to equate that with firing the 8-foot-2 yellow bird. Just as Democrats have scared senior citizens about losing Medicare, they are now scaring preschoolers about losing Big Bird. Pants on Fire!

Of course, Sesame Workshop wants PBS to keep getting money because that is the "distribution system" for the show. But no one thinks that Sesame Street would disappear from the airwaves even if there were no PBS. Any network that appeals to young children would snap it up in a flash. And they could probably work out some deal to air it without commercial interruptions if Sesame Workshop so demanded.

And the longer that the Democrats keep talking about Big Bird, the more opportunity we have to learn about how much money Sesame Workshop pulls in. The WSJ reports,

The United States may be on a fiscal path to Greece, and working-class guys in Toledo may have stagnant incomes, but Mr. Obama says their tax dollars must continue to flow to one of the most successful TV properties of all time. Middle-aged readers may think that Big Bird's popularity peaked in the 1970s, but his earnings power remains strong.

According to financial statements for the year ended June 30, 2011, Sesame Workshop and its nonprofit and for-profit subsidiaries had total operating revenue of more than $134 million. They receive about $8 million a year in direct government grants and more indirectly via PBS subsidies. Big Bird and friends also receive corporate and foundation support, and donations amount to about a third of revenue. Distribution fees and royalties comprise another third and licensing revenue makes up the rest.

At the end of fiscal 2011, Sesame Workshop and its subsidiaries had total assets of $289 million. About $29 million was held in cash and "cash equivalents," mainly money-market mutual funds. Another $121 million on the balance sheet was held in "investments." According to the accompanying notes, these investments included stakes in hedge funds and private-equity funds. It's unclear from the financial statements if Big Bird has ever invested in funds run by Bain Capital, founded by Mitt Romney, but no doubt Sesame would be welcomed as a client by many investment managers.

So Big Bird likes to maximize revenues and investment gains as much as the next muppet. And now the President has made this adorable critter the symbol of federal programs that allegedly require eternal taxpayer aid, even if it has to be put on the future tax bill of today's pre-schoolers. Is that funny?

And let's not forget that Sesame Street got over $1 million in stimulus money and created 1.47 jobs. I hope the Romney team will start bringing that up since it's a perfect encapsulation of how little the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the stimulus, had to do with providing jobs.

The longer that Obama keeps talking about Big Bird, the more that the Romney campaign can say that they're talking about the issues people care about the terrible economy and the Obama campaign is talking about Bird fluff. Jennifer Rubin summarizes the ways in which this is such a stupid approach for the Obama campaign.

Let’s tally up the ways in which this ad is not helpful to the Obama camp. It keeps discussion of Debate-aggedon going. It is petty, suggesting that’s all the campaign has got to talk about. It makes Mitt Romney’s budget argument all the more powerful — liberals can’t part with PBS subsidies, so how are they going to make the tough calls on the debt? It chews up news cycles and time, neither of which Obama can afford to fritter away at this point. It gives the media another opportunity to show their “even-handedness” by lambasting the Obama team (after months of cooing and protecting the president from hard questions). It will annoy liberals donors and the base, who are already wondering if Obama really wants to win this race.

I probably left out a few things, but you get the point. Now, we shouldn’t get too carried away with one stupid ad. That said, it is indicative of a campaign that is feeling the absence of a positive agenda and whose barbs have missed the mark.

This ad strikes me as something that a bunch of young campaign aides came up with sitting around with one eye on Facebook and anothr eye on Comedy Central. They see the chatter on social media sites with jokes about Romney firing Big Bird and laughed as they came up with their gimmicky ad. Their ad seems humorous and cool and edgy and that is how they view themselves and Obama. It's all about appealing to young people like them. And perhaps it will. But what they don't seem to grasp is that nothing is as targeted these days as politics used to be. An ad that plays to young people will appear on the inernet and be seen by other people. political analysts will play it and they're all panning it as a truly bad idea. So the point will get made over and over that Obama is focused on Big Bird. They'll play clips of Obama talking about Big Bird and Elmo and then, in pursuit of fairness, play a clip of Romney contrasting all the people out of work and worrying about the economy while Obama is talking about Big Bird. As Allahpundit writes,

Two problems. First, needless to say, Romney’s point about PBS isn’t that serious deficit reduction should start there, it’s that not even popular federal outlays should be immune from cuts in the name of restoring fiscal stability. A guy who bet his presidential candidacy on Paul Ryan is about as serious as an American politician can get when it comes to spending. And let me gently suggest to Team O that any campaign that treats the Buffett Rule as an important budgetary reform shouldn’t wag its finger too sternly in criticizing others for half-measures. Second, the Big Bird ad is actually very typical of Hopenchange’s M.O. this year. They’ve tried to bludgeon Romney with every cheap demagogic populist ploy within reach. How were they supposed to lay off an easy opportunity to suggest that Mitt hates moms and kids and puppets? What’s unusual about the spot isn’t that it’s trivial, it’s that they released it at a moment of real momentum for Romney, which in turn makes them look desperate and inept.

So in a desire to be funny and cool, the Obama campaign seems out of touch with voters' very serious concerns. Well done, Obama campaign. Please keep it up. You keep spending more time talking about Big Bird instead of talking about Obama's nonexistent plaans to bring down unemployment or increase economic growth or about their dishonest reaction to the murder of an American ambassador. You just keep doing that for the next four weeks. Please.


http://betsyspage.blogspot.com/2012/...dlessness.html