Joe says farewell. His last YouTube campaign video:
And here's Chris Dodd's good-bye. We at PrezVid will miss him, for he made more creative (if long) use of YouTube in his campaign. Apparently that won't win you elections yet.
Meanwhile, Mike Gravel is NOT saying good-bye (and who thought he would ever?). This is his briefest video ever, telling Olberman that reports of his political demise are exaggerated.
In a mirror image of infamous the anti-Goldwater nuke ad, Fred Thompson raises the spectre of dukes in a 17-minute video aimed at Iowa voters. Johnson warned about Goldwater's finger on the button; Thompson warns about bin Laden's, but with slightly less subtlety.
Sound bite: "Most Americans know that the forces of terrorism will not rest until a mushroom cloud hangs over one of our cities."
He also goes after his fellow Republicans and media with one swipe, bragging that when asked to raise his hand (the latest debate trick) he refused.
Sound bite: "If those other fellows can't stand up to an overbearing moderator in a debate, I'm not sure how they could stand up to the leaders of Iran or North Korea.... What you see is what you get. I dance to no man's tune."
He hits every conservative chime he can, saying that the Democrats are ruled by the radically secularist ACLU and -- here's the kick to the kidneys -- Michael Moore. But Thompson says he'll protect us from that.
Here's it's opposite number, the nuclear "Daisy" ad from Johnson's campaign:
John Edwards speaks to every parent whose child is being tortured by standardized testing taking over the classroom thanks to the testing mania of no child left behind. (Can you tell I speak from personal experience?)
Sound bite: "I don't believe a child learns anything filling out a bubble on a cheap, standardized test... A friend of mine from South Carolina says, 'You don't make a hog fatter by weighing.'"
A McCain strategist, campaign manager Rick Davis, shares a PowerPoint presentation pushing the McCain early-state strategy. It's actually sort of fascinating: spin, to be sure, but also an inside look into the thinking of a campaign. And that hinges on a win in New Hampshire leading to a critical contest in Florida. Super Tuesday, they say, will be a victory tour for whoever wins Florida. (Not that we're indulging in the horse race.)
Rudy Giuliani does a nationwide webcast from a nice house in Florida. Rudy was the most behind on using the internet and YouTube but this is his second nationwide 'cast. But it's still not wildly interactive: Rudy talks 15 minutes of the 35 before we get to questions.
Here's Mitt Romney's much anticipated speech on religion, given at the Bush library behind the Presidential seal. He's casting it as question of religious liberty (read: let me have mine) and distance from religion in the White House (read: the Mormons won't tell me what to do) while also attacking "secularism" (read: I still want the votes of religious conservatives).
Sound bites: "Freedom requires religion. Just as religion requires freedom. . . . Freedom and religion endure together or perish alone."
"I do not define my candidacy by my religion. A person should not be elected by his faith just as he should not be rejected by his faith."
"Let me assure you that no authorities of my church, or any other church, for that matter, will ever exert influence on presidential decisions. . . . I will put no doctrine of any church above the duties of the office."
"When I place my hand on the Bible and take the oath of office, that oath becomes my highest obligation to God."
Five minutes in before he mentions what his religion is. "I believe in my Mormon faith and I endeavor to live by it."
"Some believe that such a confession of my faith will sink my candidacy. If they're right, so be it."
"Americans are tied of people who would jettison their beliefs to gain the world."
He testifies to his belief in Jesus as "the saviour of mankind."
"No candidate should become the spokesman for his faith, for as president he will need the prayers of people of all faiths."
How he attacks those who he says have taken separation of church and state too far. "It seems as if they are bent on establishing a new religion in America: the religion of secularism. They're wrong."
"God bless this great land, the United States of America."
