Political Christmas

December 19th, 2007 | by Noel |

It may be me, but I don’t remember there being so many presidential candidates airing Christmas ads in previous campaigns.

Here are the ones I have seen so far:

Barack Obama

John Edwards

Hillary Clinton

Mike Huckabee

Rudy Giuliani

I suspect their spin doctors were all over the creation of these ads: weighing the pros and cons of each statement, set piece, and sweater vest.

For me, the most interesting case studies are the candidates who claim to follow Jesus. Clinton, for one, avoided mentioning Christmas at all in her ad while Huckabee made it the central theme of his.

I am a firm believer in the separation of church and state (see this post from NoelHeikkinen.com), so for me this is not a moral issue at all. That’s why it fascinates me that the political blogs are all over the candidates they oppose for getting this wrong.

Who cares?

Merry Christmas.

Tags: , ,

5 Responses to “Political Christmas”

  1. By Nate on Dec 19, 2007

    Clinton’s ad was certainly interesting… maybe her writers are on strike with the WGA folks.

    I think Giuliani borrowed the ABC Warehouse commercial production team.

  2. By Dave on Dec 19, 2007

    I think a candidate’s character, beliefs and values give an indication about about the types of decisions they’ll make and they way they’ll lead the country. Like I said here , I think faith is A factor, but not the only factor.

  3. By Noel on Dec 19, 2007

    I agree with you about how character, beliefs and values do play a big role in a person’s decisions / leadership. At the same time, American politicians have to walk a fine line of not “promoting” one faith over another in their professional capacity.

    On the other hand, I resonate with the words of Martin Luther:

    “I’d rather be ruled by a competent Turk than an incompetent Christian.”

    I kind of like Hucakabee’s ad because he was plain about what he believed but didn’t seem to make it a policy thing.

  4. By Dave on Dec 20, 2007

    “I’d rather be ruled by a competent Turk than an incompetent Christian.”

    That is perfect.

  5. By christian on Aug 25, 2008

    Let me begin by saying that i love your blog http://www.walktherazor.com a lot
    now.. back on topic lol
    I cant say that im 100% with what you typed up… care to explain deeper?

You must be logged in to post a comment.