Big Bird stars in a new Obama campaign ad mocking Mitt Romney's economic priorities:
Anncr: Bernie Madoff. Ken Lay. Dennis Kozlowski. Criminals. Gluttons of greed. Visual: Stills, Wall Street footage
And the evil genius who towered over them? Visual: Big Bird silhouette.
One man has the guts to speak his name. Visual: Romney at Debate
Romney Sync: “Big Bird.” “Big Bird.” “Big Bird.” Visual: Romney at different events, and debate.
Big Bird Sync: “It’s me. Big Bird.” Visual: Big Bird
Anncr: Big. Yellow. A menace to our economy. Visual: Big Bird
Mitt Romney knows it’s not Wall Street you have to worry about, it’s Sesame Street. Visual: Romney. Wall Street sign. Sesame Street sign.
Romney Sync: “I’m going to stop the subsidy to PBS.” Visual: Debate
Anncr: Mitt Romney. Taking on our enemies, no matter where they nest. Visual: Romney/Big Bird
There's no question about whether or not Mitt Romney scored a victory during last week's debate and there's no question about whether the president should have been more aggressive in combatting Romney's dishonesty. Both of those things are undeniably true.
But that being said, the debate wasn't a total disaster for President Obama. Romney's Big Bird moment was the single most memorable thing from the debate. And the single biggest criticism of President Obama was that he let Romney get away with too much B.S.
Given where Romney's campaign was before the debate compared to where it is now, I'm sure he wouldn't trade away his debate performance in exchange for taking back the Big Bird thing or erasing the impression that he lied, but that's only because the alternative would have been even worse. As Markos wrote yesterday, Romney's getting a real (but fading) bounce in the polls, no doubt, but remember, John McCain briefly took the lead after picking Sarah Palin.
As long as President Obama and his team step up to the plate now like they did then, Romney's post-debate bump will be long forgotten by election day. But Big Bird will stay with us for quite some time.
