Pssst. Did you realize that John McCain is... an American?
Shocking,
I know. But if McCain's latest television ad--the first, we're told, of
the general election campaign--is imparting some other, more revealing
bit of biography, I must have missed it. Consider the evidence. The
spot, called "624787" (more on that later), opens with an image of the
Arizona senator pounding a podium, shot heroically from below. "Keep
that faith," he says. "Keep your courage. Stick together. Stay strong.
Do not yield. Stand up." It's as if McCain is pitching slogans for
Alcoholics Anonymous, or an athletic sneaker. I half-expected him to
add, "Just do it." The senator quickly clears up any confusion, though,
as the camera cuts to a crowd: "we're Americans, and we'll never
surrender." How flattering. The cheering echoes ominously, and the
image lingers on a sign that reads "JohnMcCain.com." Nothing more
American than product placement.
The
next movement is similarly vacuous. On the soundtrack, Powers Boothe,
beloved in the Stumper household for his turn as the unctuous, scheming
pimp Cy Tolliver on HBO's Deadwood, bellows a series of unenlightening
rhetorical questions. "What must a president believe about us?" he
asks, his voice rich with hammy bombast. "About America? That she is
worth protecting? That liberty is priceless? Our people, honorable? Our
future, prosperous, remarkable and free?" Apparently, Millard Fillmore
thought defending America was a bore, and Woodrow Wilson fully expected
that we'd bow down before our Teutonic rulers in due time. On screen,
theatrically lit images of McCain--in profile, scanning the horizon,
resting his fingertips on a table, saluting--float alongside
"uplifting" phrases like "American Values," "Path to Future" and "Time
for a Real Hero." Shortly after Boothe asks "what must we believe about
that president?" ("What does he think? Where has he been? Has he walked
the walk?"), McCain's face dissolves in a burst of light, and we're
left with black-and-white footage of a soldier supine on a cot:
Interviewer: "What is your rank?"
John McCain: "Lt. Commander in the Navy."
Interviewer: "And your official
number?"
John McCain: "624787."
The exchange, of course, represents, in a terse, Hemingwayesque
manner, McCain's military service and years spent as a POW in Vietnam.
But like the rest of the commercial, it's not really saying anything.
Instead, the footage, the slogans, the flags, the blandishments
(priceless, honorable, prosperous, remarkable and free) and the word
"America," repeated or displayed at least five times over the course of
a minute (including twice in the comically tautological tagline, "the
American president Americans have been waiting for"), are meant to
convey an impression of McCain as unquestionably, unquestioningly,
overwhelmingly American.
I
suppose there's a positive case to be made for such an effort. While
the Democrats cannibalize each other, McCain has the luxury of defining
himself in the most favorable light. That said, everyone already
recognizes (and honors) his service. Which is why I can't help but see
the rather unrevealing "624787" not as a biographical ad but as a contrast
ad. Remember, McCain's likely general election opponent is Barack
Obama, whose Achilles Heel, Republicans have decided, is patriotism.
You know the drill: the American flag pin, the "non-salute," Michelle's
gaffe, the false Muslim rumor, the middle name, the pastor. McCain
can't say Obama is a Muslim, or an angry black man, or even
unpatriotic; in fact, he's been quick to publicly oppose such tactics when other Republicans indulge (even as his staff has circulated anti-Obama web videos).
But he can keep reminding
voters that he's really, really American and let their imaginations do
the rest. Boothe's questions, in this context, serve not just to
elevate McCain but also to stoke fears about Obama: "What does he
think? Where has he been?" and, as if channeling Hillary Clinton, "Has
he walked the walk?" Let Obama and his followers be "the ones that we've been waiting for," the ad implies. McCain is content, instead, to be "the American president Americans have been waiting for."
In case you doubt the Obama connection, look at where the ad is airing: New Mexico, an extremely close swing state packed with Latinos. Traditionally Democratic, they overwhelmingly prefer Clinton to Obama--and might be persuaded, say observers,
to back the pro-immigration reform McCain in the general election. At
this rate, we fully expect to see an ad in which McCain soars o'er
purple mountains majesty on the wings of a bald eagle by May. And throw
in an apple pie while you're at it.