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Demon Sheep Creator Speaks

By: SteveLA (Diary)  |  February 5th, 2010 at 09:25 PM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

LATimes has an article up profiling Fred Davis, creator of Carly’s demon sheep web commercial.

It’s not much of an article, but what’s interesting is this guy has a track record for creating this sort of web commercial.  Back in 2002, he created an infamous “King Rat” commercial for Sonny Perdue who went on to win the Governor’s race in Georgia. I’m not making the claim that “King Rat” had much to do with Perdue’s win, but I would appreciate someone from Georgia’s comment on the effects of that commercial on the race.

Right now it’s too early to see how or if this commercial changes the dynamics of the Republican primary, but  I do think the term “demon sheep” is going to enter into popular culture, at least for a few months.  I also think that camp Campbell is going to have a problem with voters in CA over his support of the “temporary” increase in the gasoline tax and his very strong support of the NO on Prop 8  vote.

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  • qixlqatl

    I remember the “king rat” commercial. What I can tell you is that a lot of Georgia voters were all ready convinced that “King Roy” Barnes was a rat, so the message resonated. He (Barnes) certainly conducted himself with an arrogance that cost him dearly.

    The best answer I can give you (just being a voter with no particular qualifications for political analysis) is that it probably had a minor effect, driving rep. turnout up a bit, and dem. turnout down.

    It’s a totally different dynamic, though. It was a general election, not a primary. It was in conservative Georgia, not liberal California. Barnes was an incumbent, not an insider.

    So my “gut level” analysis is that Carly Fiorino just strapped on an “urban renewal vest” and went jihadi, blowing herself up to take out the competition. Her campaign isn’t instantly blown up, but the injuries will prove to be fatal.

    • qixlqatl

      EE could give you a much better analysis.

    • SteveLA

      qixqatl

      I can do without the Jihadist rhetoric you use, but that’s me.

      One thing is clear, demon sheep has cut through the noise…good or bad…people are talking about it.

      • Richard Mullins

        and might be understood to give some bigger exposure to Carly, even if the ad looks a little dopey.

      • qixlqatl

        just humor. Guess it fell flat, but that’s pretty normal for my humor. Ah, well….

        • SteveLA

          qixlqatl

          Didn’t intend to jump you hard or anything, I just don’t find much humorous about that topic, or Carly’s lack of hair due to her cancer.

          As Mork from Ork used to say….Nanu Nanu

          • qixlqatl

            My sense of humor tends to be pretty black in the best of times, which these ain’t.

            I would also consider her hair out of bounds. She didn’t choose to have cancer, I’m sure, and I wish her a full and speedy recovery.

        • qixlqatl

          To clarify my take on how “demonsheep” will play out, I think it will help her in the primary (not sure how much), but hurt her in the general IF she wins the nomination. Going so negative so soon doesn’t bode well, imho.

          • Richard Mullins

            even with a hokey ad like this. It might bring more people to the polls for the primary and we don’t what will happen on the fallout of the ad until then.

          • qixlqatl

            SteveLA asked for comments from the “peanut gallery”, so I put in my $0.02 worth…and that’s probably overstating the real value of what I think. ;)

            But I promise you, Boxer’s camp has some really smart people looking at “demonsheep” with an eye to how they can turn it against Fiorino in the general, and the potential looks ominous from my vantage point.

            Somebody a lot smarter and politically savvy than me recently commented that anything can happen in an election, so the real answer is we’ll have to see how it plays out.

          • Richard Mullins

            The laughfest when watching the ad might drive people in to wanted to vote for someone that makes them laugh. Laughter has worked in the past. Yes, even things that don’t normal(like positive political ad’s here in Texas) have worked in different ways. BTW, how long do they have until the Primary? I’m saying because time has a way of sinking into to ones head.

          • SteveLA

            qixlqatl

            The budget mess and the huge hole in the budget is a major issue in CA for sure.

            On the one side you have Assembly Democrats who just can’t say No to anything their Teachers Unions, Guards Union, Welfare loving backers support.

            On the other side, you have the Republicans in the Assembly who when not hiding under their desks seem more concerned with being re-elected than actually proposing doing something about the problem. I’d love to see the R Assembly members pushing for some structural changes when it comes to spending in exchange for some short term (read that sun-setted) tax increases. Heck I’d even support touching the third rail of Prop 13 when it comes to commercial property assessments.

            Here’s a weird thing about CA politics: Grey Davis was actually better at herding Demo Cats in the Assembly than the Governator has been. For some reason, Grey was able to blunt the worst of the worst excesses of the Democrat Assembly on spending, but Governator has been a failure. It’s not at all clear to me if a second coming of Governor Moonbeam would be really bad or just bad.

          • qixlqatl

            That’s Jerry Brown, right? Or am I confusing my ex-governors of Ca?

            I was actually living in the bay area when Grey Davis was recalled, but I knew I wasn’t staying there, so I didn’t pay a lot of attention.

          • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens
          • SteveLA

            My personal nickname for him was “Med Fly”, more than Moonbeam.

            Back in the early 80′s there was an infestation of the Med Fly which is devastating to the major industry in CA, agriculture. Old Moonbeam was reluctant to let loose the malathion sprayers and airplane drops because of the impact on the “environment”. He eventually gave in, but it was one of those stupid decisions considering the impact of the Med Fly on CA ag.

            Bonus question: Who was Moonbeam’s Chief of Staff?

          • qixlqatl

            I haven’t the faintest idea. ;)

          • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens
          • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens
          • SteveLA

            Grey Davis was indeed Moonbeam’s COS.

            So when people vote for Moonbeam, in some ways they are voting for a return of Grey. I’d probably argue that Grey was a pale version of Moonbeam, with Moonbeam being a much more accomplished politician.

            Hey I’m fascinated by Willy Brown, he is one slick politician, wrong most of the time, but entertaining as all get out.

          • Richard Mullins

            I typed up Gray Davis in the search bar on FF and I got that answer fairly quickly. When you want to know leftists, you need to go to their source.

  • hickorystick

    attitude in that commercial. Between sheep scenes she compared him to a white superiost, a Pig, a sheep, A hypocrite, and an out-of-control spender. I did laugh pretty hard, but it was at Carly, not with her. I did also notice that when she went ugly, she chose an all-white cast, fed regs be darned.
    (not Californian or Georgian)

    • SteveLA

      hicorystick

      All white cast….really, how could tell?

      I think a few of those sheep were in California without proper papers….aka illegal mutton.

      • hickorystick

        but imaging is a consistent part of marketing. Multi-cultural imaging is consistently used, and probably federally mandated. If an exception to the rule is going to be made to slam a man that is white, she should be called on it. Ethnic interests are part of the national dialogue (mostly one way dialogue) and if she is going to slam one group, in a form that that would be unacceptable to use toward another group, it should be pointed out.
        Watch the video again and look closely at the symbols. She brought this up immediately with the words “Purity”, and “Piety”, which are not being used in any dialogue presently, are associated with 70′s Feminism use of Victorian era and Puritan era representations of repression of Women’s participation in civic affairs. My main point was that there is a lot of ugliness hidden under the DemonSheep sillyness.

        • SteveLA

          hicorystick

          You’re reaching a bit, political speech is not regulated the same as commercial speech, at least not yet.

          Ugliness in demon sheep, Shirly you jest.

          What’s Ugly is Tom Campbell who thinks judges should decide for “we the people” think marriage means…his support of a NO vote on Prop 8.

          What’s Ugly is Tom Campbell who thinks raising taxes on Californians without putting some real restrictions on Democratic spending in Sacramento. Like his support of a $16 billion tax hike and a 32-cent gas tax increase.

          Now that’s Ugly, and demon sheep calls Campbell on his record as part of the problem in Sacramento.

          • SteveLA

            If you want to read a real analysis of the charges made in demon sheep, the Flash Report, which is not exactly a Left wing sort of playground, picks the ad apart and to some extent Carly.

            I’m waiting to see if DeVore does something in response other than his “demon sheep free zone” comment, which is what, a comment that this is not a real issue, not a reaffirmation that he has taken the hard stances on this issue that we should respect and support. DeVore can and should do better on this topic, because he has a GREAT record on this topic.

  • hickorystick

    in the commercial.
    He did call for many spending cuts, and offered a return to something called a Gant? limit. I remember the wrangling over the California budget, it was in the national news. Considering the rules to achieve a budget in California it’s a fact of life that some compromising will have to happen. That Campbell offered himself up to try to work out a budget should be respected. That she cherry-picks after the budget should’t. What solutions did she offer up at the time?

    Here’s his presentaion at the time:

    http://notes.campbell.org/2009/05/17/a-specific-proposal-to-tackle-californias-budget-deficit/

    As far as the gas tax, he discouraged implementing cap-and-trade, and offered raising the gas tax to reduce consumption instead. Given the Global Warming mania in California at the time it seems the least worst of what was being offered. California’s Legislature is 2/3rd Democrat, and until that changes, harder lines cannot be drawn. For Fiorina to attack after the sky has fallen is disengenious. And the way she did it should be galling to any thinking person. That she has no credibility to speak, and that she implemented a multi-cultural model that failed badly and hurt the one thing she was responsible for (HP) should be challenged. She’s living in a glass house. She’s trying to hurt her opponent, and will drag down the Cal. R party in the process; mark my words on that.

    • hickorystick

      also, I am not advocating Campbell, just trying to develop a little perspective. I’ll go take a look at the Flash Report as you suggest.

      • SteveLA

        hickorystick

        Let me guess, a DeVore supporter?

        Oh…and your comment “California?s Legislature is 2/3rd Democrat, and until that changes, harder lines cannot be drawn.” …Wrong…Fail…same old same old CA Republicans hiding under their desk because they have no power craptacular excuse. Yea let’s work on pretend legislation like banning tanning for under age kids instead of standing for something. Republicans in CA are in the minority because they stand for very little that is important to the voters of CA like issues of taxes and spending. At least under Pete Wilson and George Dukmajain Republicans stood for something.

        Geesh, Chuck DeVore had the guts to stand up to the cowardly CA Republican Assembly dolts when he resigned his position as Chief R Whip over the gutless way CA Republicans in the Senate refused to say no to the $14 Billion dollar tax increase last year.

        I’m not sold on Chuck DeVore being able to beat Boxer, but darn it, he at least walks the walk with the talk when it comes to spending.

        • hickorystick

          If DeVore or Campbell wins fine with me, it’s not my state. I’m trying to figure out how to replace Murray with a principled Republican. I only said something because I spotted something in this Ad coming out of the Democrats rhetoric and mentality, specifically that Republicans do not represent a diversity of interests. She wasn’t openly saying that, but her next phase will make that more clear, and she hid it in her opening message in DemonSheep. Just a heads-up, not trying to influence one way or the other, except I don’t trust Fiorina.

  • SteveLA

    Carly’s team has been busy, they have a FCino site up now. Smart move.