Washington Insiders Prevented Funny Anti-Bush Ad in 2004

Consortiumnews.com writes about the Will Ferrell ad canned by old Washington insiders.

A chief reason for this failure to make wider use of Ferrell’s “Bush” appeared to be that ACT and the Media Fund were dominated by traditional Democratic operatives, such as former Clinton aide Harold Ickes, Emily’s List founder Ellen Malcolm and Service Employees International Union President Andrew L. Stern.

These operatives, in turn, relied on armies of consultants to vet the political commercials. The ones that survived this committee process – and then were aired mostly in battleground states – were widely criticized as safe and unimaginative.

In effect, ACT and the Media Fund were accepting the parameters of political respectability that had been shaped by the powerful conservative news media over the previous four years.

Any poking fun at Bush was deemed unpatriotic or a “hate-fest,” while ridicule of Kerry – for wind-surfing or “looking French” or supposedly lying about his Vietnam War record – was considered standard fare for political talk shows.

Watch the tape.