Inside the Beltway: The Democratic infomercial continues

NEWS AND OPINION:

The virtual presidential convention has debuted at last, and the reviews are not too promising. The coronavirus pandemic prevents any live interactions during this normally bustling, free-wheeling political event. Democratic Party campaign gurus have responded to the challenge by assembling a carefully calibrated, nightly array of pre-packaged speeches, video segments and entertainment acts which will grind on until Thursday, when Joseph R. Biden officially accepts his role as White House hopeful.

The reviews so far of the big production are, uh, tepid.

“It’s like binge watching a Marriott commercial,” tweeted former Democratic presidential candidate and spiritual leader Marianne Williamson.

“It was like watching an infomercial,” writes Roger Simon, a veteran Hollywood scriptwriter who knows an iffy plot when he sees one, and compares the viewing experience to taking a prescription sleeping aid.

“For the first five minutes, when you’re learning what the product is and sitting through one or two glowing testimonials from ’experts,’ it might be moderately interesting. But the last one hour and 55 minutes are like a quadruple dose of Ambien. Either you’re dead asleep or long gone to another network,” Mr. Simon writes in an essay for Epoch Times.

The convention appears to be over-produced, and rife with marketing technique.

“If the Democratic Party was aiming for a conversational tone, this is not it. The monologues sound rehearsed and forced, and the sudden concert breaks are distracting. Surely, someone, somewhere, among the Democratic Party’s many Hollywood connections could have helped them avoid this,” notes Kaylee McGhee, a commentary writer for The Washington Examiner.

The virtual presentation is an opportunity for bias, however.

“The Democratic convention is an infomercial. MSNBC aired 59 minutes of the Democratic convention unfiltered,” writes Scott Whitlock, associate editor of Newsbusters.org, a conservative press watchdog.

“If the first hour of the Democratic National Convention was any guide, get ready for the watchdogs at MSNBC and CNN to turn into propagandist lapdogs. On Monday night at 9:00 p.m. MSNBC aired 58 minutes and 55 seconds of unfiltered Democratic propaganda, with almost no commentary from journalists,” says Mr. Whitlock in an analysis, noting that CNN aired 55 minutes of the convention, nonstop.

“When Donald Trump kicked off his campaign on June 20th with a speech in Tulsa, Oklahoma, CNN and MSNBC censored 97% of it. What will they do in the first hour of the Republican National Convention next Monday?” asks Mr. Whitlock, who notes that Fox News aired 101 minutes, or 100% of the Tulsa event.

“Will CNN and MSNBC cover Donald Trump’s 2020 rallies in a way that allows the president to simply state his message to the American people? Or will they attempt to hide and censor him?” the analyst asks.

KIM KLACIK, AN EMPHATIC VOICE

Do you know Kimberly Klacik? She is a young Black Republican woman now running for Congress in Maryland’s 7th District — seeking to occupy the seat once held by the late Elijah E. Cummings. She has emerged with an emphatic new campaign video shot on the streets of Baltimore.

“Democrats don’t want you to see this. They’re scared that I’m exposing what life is like in Democrat-run cities. That’s why I’m running for Congress. Because all black lives matter. Baltimore matters. And black people don’t have to vote Democrat,” Ms. Klacik advises in the three-minute outreach released Monday.

“The Democrats have betrayed Baltimore,” she says, later asking four local residents if they agree with defunding the local police.

Each rejected the idea.

“I had three sons killed in Baltimore city. If we defund the police officers, it would be worse than that. No, I’m opposed to that,” one said.

“What do you want to defund the police for? Why? How do you defend your city, your community? Families are losing here?” another noted.

“It’s not just Baltimore. The worst place for a black person to live in America is a Democrat-controlled city,” Ms. Klacik says in the spot, which accrued over 4 million views in its first 24 hours.

Discover her story at KimKforCongress.com.

BRAD CLARIFIES THE MATTER

“The media wants you to believe that @realDonaldTrump doesn’t believe in legal vote by mail. He does! He however doesn’t want automatic universal ballots full of errors and fraud,” tweeted Brad Parscale, senior adviser to President Trump.

The campaign has already issued a helpful voter handout which clearly details the best ways to obtain an absentee ballot. An advisory for Florida voters included four methods to get the ballot either online, in person, by phone or through email.

“Take action now. Protect your community today. Request an absentee ballot,” the handout reads.

FOXIFIED

Fox News remains the most watched network in the entire cable TV empire for the 32nd consecutive week according to Nielsen Media Research.

However, during the week of Aug. 10-16, Fox News was also the leading prime-time destination among all cable and broadcast networks, garnering 3.4 million viewers, besting the “Big Three” networks NBC, CBS and ABC.

As is often the case, evening host Sean Hannity led the pack with 4.3 million viewers.

“Our powerhouse primetime lineup surpassed the broadcast networks as the most-watched network in all of television during primetime for the week,” Fox News noted in a statement.

POLL DU JOUR

• 71% of U.S. adults have thought “quite a lot” about the presidential election; 78% of Republicans, 64% of independents and 79% of Democrats agree.

• 63% overall say they are “more enthusiastic” about voting this year than in previous elections; 76% of Republicans, 51% of independents and 71% of Democrats agree.

• 5% overall say they are “as enthusiastic” as they were in previous elections; 5% of Republicans, 6% of independents and 4% of Democrats agree.

• 31% overall say they are “less enthusiastic”; 19% of Republicans, 43% of independents and 24% of Democrats agree.

Source: A Gallup poll of 1,031 U.S. adults conducted July 30-Aug. 12 and released Tuesday.

• Kindly follow Jennifer Harper on Twitter @HarperBulletin.