Trailhead: A campaign blog.

Clinton: Obama Is JFK (Sorta) [[CORRECTED]]

The Barack-Obama-is-the-next-JFK theme has basically vanished since Teddy K’s endorsement didn’t do Obama much good in Massachusetts. But, ever-so-subtly, Hillary Clinton could be reviving the comparison—only this time, she’s invoking JFK’s naivete to hurt Obama.

Case in point: Look at her latest Pennsylvania attack ad. The narrator introduces the spot by growling, “It’s the toughest job in the world.” Cue the hyper-fast montage of historic headlines and images: Black Thursday, Pearl Harbor, the Berlin Crisis*, Fidel Castro, the oil crisis, the fall of the Berlin Wall, Osama Bin Laden, and Hurricane Katrina. The ad wraps up with another montage of our modern-day plagues, a quote by Harry Truman, and a rhetorical question—“Who do you think has what it takes?”—that’s answered a split-second later with an image of Hillary. (The ad, by the way, is the most watched News and Politics video on YouTube today. Ninth most watched in France, 22^nd most viewed in Russia, and 66^th most in Canada. You may not realize it, but you need to know these things.) 

It’s in the initial montage—when it covers the Berlin Crisis*—that we see JFK.

*Corrections, April 22, 2008: Originally, the post incorrectly stated that a headline Hillary Clinton used in a recent ad hinted at JFK's handling of the Vietnam War. It actually referred to the Berlin Crisis. The post made invalid conclusions based on the error. Those conclusions have been removed from the post.