Wednesday, October 27, 2010

At Least One "Seal" Endorses Bob Dold in New Video (UPDATED: PolitiFact Calls Video "Priceless")

Bob Dold takes a light-hearted look at one "seal" that endorses him in the 10th District Congressional race:



UPDATED: Over on Cap Fax Blog, the reviews are mixed, but a lot of Dems frequent that blog, so who knows. Here's a positive review of the video from PolitiFact:

It's not every day that a campaign ad lands in our inbox and makes us laugh out loud -- especially in the midst of a campaign cycle with commercials featuring Viagra-fueled sex offenders, puppy mass-murderers and roving psychopaths. But the ad aired by Republican Robert Dold targeting Democrat Dan Seals had us at "broheim."

It features a charming if foul-mouthed sea lion hired to film an "endorsement" for Dan Seals. Seals (not the sea lion) is running for the Chicago-area seat being vacated by Rep. Mark Kirk, the Republican nominee for Senate. With a slight Democratic edge and a moderate, suburban vibe, the 10th District is one of the rare GOP-held seats that's actually in play for the Democrats this year. In fact, political handicapper Charlie Cook rates it Lean Democratic, meaning that Dold, even though he's a Republican running in a Republican year, is airing the ad as a slight underdog.

PolitiFact does take issue with the ad's assertion that Dan Seals was running for Congress "before there were, like, iPods." We're more forgiving than PolitiFact, apparently, as that little misassertion didn't bother us.

For anyone who cares: Anticipated "Ellen of the Tenth" rating of the "seal" video: "0 Cat Treats"

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

wow, that is really pathetic...

1 week out and the best they can do is a web ad with a seal

This is even worse than the remix of the Dolt with a T ad

Anonymous said...

Spoken like a true Seals supporter, 11:10!

Anonymous said...

I am a Dold guy and this is stupid. Still a Dold guy on Tuesday but this will always be stupid.

Anonymous said...

Um, that's a sea lion, "dude."

Anonymous said...

apparently this is a sea lion.

the real post should be on the kass column this morning trashing gash heir karen may, sente, and schakowsky protege biss for their roles as pawns of the chicago machine. All 3 were too gutless to respond to kass and it's important to spotlight candidates like hamilton chang, taurelli, and thunder dan segrue who aren't making ellen's out of themselves and their campaigns.

Getting rid of mike madigan and his 3 north suburban thugs to me is as important if not more so than electing brady and kirk right now.

I am also hearing may is trying to install one of her subordinates as mayor of deerfield or northbrook, I don't know the woman's name but whoever is running the shop now-ant simonian? should make stopping this a big post election priority.



FOKLAEAPS

Anonymous said...

Kind of silly, but..............in the midst of all this manufactured outrage on ALL sides in this and many other races, I must adnmit this did make me laugh.

Not saying it's going to get a ton of votes for DOLD but it is funny, even if in a "Fast Times at Ridgmont High" kind of way.


It will be interesting to see how many hits they get.

Team America said...

=== Um, that's a sea lion, "dude." ===

On behalf of the Dold campaign, I will claim poetic license.

Anonymous said...

Seal, Sea-lion...Close enough.

Just like running for Congress in a District where you don't even live is close enough.

Nice try, though.

Anonymous said...

REALLY?

That's all I can say at this point. I get that the ad is supposed to be funny, but REALLY? This "campaign" (I am now using that term loosely with regards to Dolt) had a million bucks left with a month to go and THIS is the BEST they can do?

A week out is the time for closing arguments, the "this is why I deserve to win" phase. Instead, the Dolt campaign has a talking Sea Lion and a poor jingle. REALLY?

If I were Bingo Bob, I would be embarrassed. Let's just call it final moans of a dying campaign. Campaigns are supposed to reflect their candidate and, if this is the best Dolt can do, it's only another reason not to vote for him. So let's take a moment to pour one out for Robert Dold 2010 (Kelly Klopp, want to do the honors?)

Until Next Time,
A Concerned Colonial

Publia said...

Sea lions are seals, just not earless “true” seals. There are 3 types of pinnipeds: the earless “true” seal, the eared seal (which includes sea lions), and the walrus.

A. Bees said...

really? You guys can tell the difference between seals and sea lions? Next will be the difference between dolphins and porpoises followed by turtles and tortoises. LOL

Anonymous said...

Ha!

So, it's a seal...Now what will the Seals Drones comment on? I expect their next plan-of-attack to be something about how seals can't talk.

Go Dold, go!

Anonymous said...

Is this really the best time to show such an ad? It seems like a waste of campaign money which could be spent more wisely. Not sure if I agree with the strategy of this.

Anonymous said...

Hey,9:32...It's a web ad...Costs $0 to run.

Plus, Luke Russert just tweeted that it's the best political ad of the season. So, yeah, probably a good idea...

...unless, of course, you're a Seals fan.

Anonymous said...

Good grief! THe Seals people posting here need to stop acting like the Dold campaign is putting this ad on network TV as their final hit on Seals in the last few days before the election to insure victory.

It's a light-hearted WEB AD - a nice contrast to all the negativity and viciousness that this campaign cycle has produced.

Anonymous said...

Agreed - it is funny.

Not sure of the accuracy of this but heard over 500K hits so far and that additional donations are "pouring" in.

Rumor is that DOLD'S fundraising results since October 1 have been HUGE.

Anonymous said...

I thought it was pretty funny. Nice to see the Dold people having FUN while campaigning. By contrast, Democrats this election cycle just snarl.

Thanks for the crash course on what is a seal, seal lion and that seal lions are seals. That little piece of trivia will clutter up my mind the rest of the day!

Who says that Ellen has a sense of humor? Who even thinks that she has a sense of humor?

Louis G. Atsaves

Anonymous said...

"Rumor is that DOLD'S fundraising results since October 1 have been HUGE."

That's not surprising in light of the fact that the 10th is one of 3 likely Dem pick-ups. Dold is probably getting donations from every state in the union at this point.

That said, it is hard to see how that money equates to votes at this point. 30% of the district has voted. The rest are likely decided. Four major rating agencies (Cook, Rothenberg, CQ, and Sabato) have this as a likely Seals victory. Nate Silver just upped Seals's chances to 66%.

Looks like third time really is the charm. Success is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration. I wonder if Bob will run in 2012?

Anonymous said...

Coulson in 2012! She has a real chance and won't have to do seal commercials! TA please don't endorse her bc she'll lose if you do.

Anonymous said...

Seals people criticizing this ad for seal authenticity is like the Washington Generals criticizing the Harlem Globetrotters for their flashy uniforms.

Just shows they have nothing else to offer.

Keep nitpicking, Seal-Drones. It's precious.

Anonymous said...

Anybody that wants to see the actual fundraising numbers can go to the FEC site and get them - no rumors needed. Numbers are now reported every day or every other day.

I've added them up myself (takes about 10 minutes) and I'd put them up but that would ruin everyone's fun figuring them out themselves.

Anonymous said...

Elizabeth Coulson, every democrat's favorite republican.

Anonymous said...

FYI to commenters don't post easy to verify lies.

Anon @ 8:12
"Not sure of the accuracy of this but heard over 500K hits so far and that additional donations are "pouring" in."

If you bothered to look at the actual video on YouTube, you'd see there are 5k in hits. You were close, just off by a factor of 100.

Anonymous said...

What did Gartner, Carton and Douglas LLP think about the Seals for Dold ad?