Not so silly!

The Michael Palin for President campaign continues to try to pose as the silly alternative to mainstream politics while encouraging an anti-Sarah Palin vote. The last, one hopes, email from the campaign is all about mobilisation: "Vote like the wind... Vote like if you don't then the Spanish Inquisition will fry you up and toss you into a Spanish Omelet!" But the last line is a real clincher and suddenly it is not silly or Pythonesque: VOTE, YOU MISERABLE BASTARD, AS IF BY DOING SO YOU CAN KEEP AN OIL-DRILLING, WOLF-KILLING, IGNORANT ALASKAN MOOSE-MUNCHER FROM EVER GETTING HER IGNORANT, WELL-MANICURED FINGER ANYWHERE NEAR THE BIG RED ARMAGEDDON BUTTON! (You can). Well no-one from the Obama campaign could say this directly!

Call me suspicious

So the latest on the Michael Palin for President is a hard sell on 'Campaign Iconography' for the 'Silly Campaign', Buttons are $5.99, the thong $12.99. Now where is this money going, to Michael Palin or perhaps would this be to Barack Obama. If the latter, however indirect, is this not a little bit cynical? And if revealed would this not damage his 'peoples' campaign'? And further, do they have copyright (or does Michael for that matter) for his image?

it's not about Michael really

So, on the Michael Palin viral video, today I have received the first email from the Michael Palin for President Campaign. I noted that some thought it was a promotional thing for Palin, and the email makes references to all things Python: ENGAGE IN SOCIAL DEBATE by rubbing Fuzzy Things on Republicans. ENGAGE IN CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE by doing Silly Walks in government buildings. But at it's heart it is a pro-Democrat, and for all we know Obama team created, campaign. The killer is the very strange bit that claims as evidence that "Apparently we've hit a nerve". After talking of it being featured on Obama's website the email claims: "Of course the opposition has been heard from as well, offering such insightful and considered political discourse as "If you have a child, I hope he dies in a car fire!" and "F--k your video and f--k you!". I kind of hope if these lines are true reflections of opposition responses then the authors are in no way connected to the campaigns of McCain or Palin. They claim the video has been watched by more than 200,000 people, though it is a couple of thousand less on their Youtube channel.

Good example of a viral campaign

Though this is probably is the creation of a pro-Democrat/Obama group, this is sort of satire that can have a real impact. The simple message is that if Sarah Palin is a suitable candidate for Vice-President of the USA then so is anybody.

In three days it has had over 25,000 views and is becoming viral (I received it five times on Facebook today). There is a website for this 'campaign' also, if you sign up you get a free 'fuzzy thing', here is mine. I presume that the emails will be collected and there will be a more sustained anti-Palin campaign by email over the next few months. I await the bombardment. However, clever stuff. Very Palin-esque (Pythonesque perhaps), a simple message wrapped in comedy that will be enjoyed by many in the intended audience of semi-intellectual floating voters, the humorous message guarantees the video gaining views but not just via Youtube but via its homepage, this allows the collection of email addresses and the directing of a campaign to those who are susceptible to anti-Palin arguments. This demonstrates the ease of campaigning as facilitated by the Internet.