Here are the 15 finalists in moveon.org voter fund’s amateur “Bush in 30
Seconds” political ad contest. To watch the ads, just click on the high-
or low-bandwith versions (and don’t forget to click the left arrow when the screen comes up).
Some of them are terrific. For a quick taste, here’s a random sample of photo stills
from six of the 30-second spots: “Child’s Play,”
“Polygraph,”
“Bring ‘Em On,” “Human Cost of War,” “Leave No Child Behind” and “Gone in 30 Seconds.”
Moveon.org says it created the ad contest “to bring new talent and new messages into the
world of mainstream political advertising” and is seeking “the ad that best explains what [the
Maximum Leader] and his policies are really about — in only 30 seconds.”
My favorites among the finalists are “Child’s Play,” “Desktop,” “Bush’s Repair Shop” and
“Gone in 30 Seconds.” Oh, and here’s a minute-long, must-see cartoon
ad for Halliburton by Mark Fiore. It’s not part of the contest, but it
would make a funny spot.
The winner, to be chosen by a jury, will be announced on Monday. The jurors include various
show-biz types (Jack Black, Benny Boom, Margaret Cho, Hector Alizondo, Al Franken,
Janeane Garofalo, Ted Hope, Michael Mann, Moby, Michael Moore, Tony Shalhoub, Russell
Simmons, Michael Stipe, Gus Van Sant), two political strategists (Donna Brazille and James
Carville), one pollster (Stan Greenberg), one intellectual (Katrina Vanden Heuvel), and — to
lend authority — a partridge in a pear tree.
