WE SUCK

Yesterday at Shakesville, LitBrit posted a clip called "Hillary vs. Obama" from last weekend's Mad TV. (Here's the direct YouTube link.)

LitBrit thinks it's clever and witty. She's right, it is -- but it also annoys me nearly as much as the "Hillary 1984" ad did.

This time, it's the two main characters in the ad, young supporters of Clinton and Obama, who create the sense of being trapped in a system from which you're desperate to escape. Lisa Donovan, backing Clinton, and Jordan Peete, supporting Obama, are two hyperverbal yuppies who start out amusing, but soon become insufferable. Peete snipes at Donovan and Clinton, Donovan snipes back at Obama and Peete, and soon you want to take that "1984" hammer and fling it, hoping it hits at least one of them. They're snarky, but it's constipated snark; they're bitter and joyless.

And then along comes a kid in a Rudy cap. He's relaxed; he urges them to keep on sniping at each other, and to get in touch if they "ever need a hero."

I take LitBrit's point, made in comments, that this as a "wake-up call" for Democrats, a warning not to beat one another up and blow the '08 election. But it's more than that. This is what people think Democrats are: polysyllabic and drained of all human juices. The Rudy kid looks as if he's going to go kick back and have a few brews; the Democrats look as if they're never going to crack a smile for the rest of their lives.

LitBrit wouldn't agree, but I think we are suppose to read this as the Democrats' essential nature. This clip has no relationship to the old "1984" ad, but it's clearly influenced by Macintosh advertising -- in this case, the current "Mac Guy vs. PC Guy" campaign. And what's the point of that campaign? That how you seem -- relaxed or uptight -- is what you are. It's your essence.

The Mad TV clip is saying a typical Democrat is a bitter yuppie, while Republicans are relaxed and comfortable in their own skin. I hate that idea, because far too many people believe it, and it loses us a hell of a lot of votes.