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Go Home Come Back Will.i.am, All Is Forgiven

THE PLANK MAY 8, 2008

Come Back Will.i.am, All Is Forgiven

BY JASON ZENGERLE

It's a good thing for Obama that he's pretty much got the nomination in the bag, because I don't think this video is going to get him that many votes (H/t T.P.):

--Jason Zengerle

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23 comments

This video doesn't tell me anything I didn't already know.  I learned months ago that Buckwheat would be endorsing Obama.  What I want to know is what about Alfalfa?  

(Spanky already came out for McCain.)

- aeromonas

May 8, 2008 at 9:08pm

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Well, clearly Hillary can kiss West Virginia goodbye.

- adaglas

May 8, 2008 at 9:09pm

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That video will not gain Obama many votes among the white working class. But I want to know what candidate is Snoop going for?

- liberal reformer

May 8, 2008 at 9:24pm

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Ye gods.  You're willing to forgive will.i.am, but isn't he at least partly responsible for "inspiring" (to use the word very loosely) this stuff?

- cspencef

May 8, 2008 at 9:46pm

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This has to be the same people who did "Raining McCain."

- ralphnelle

May 8, 2008 at 9:51pm

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You guys clearly aren't following what's going on here. This guy, from a cursory look, is the next person waiting in line to get plugged in by Kanye, and he's dedicating his first single over to an Obama support song. It might feel alien to you, but let me put it this way: he's both hip and seems like he'll have credibility, which means it will do much more in the black and college communities in terms of energizing than the will.i.am video, which was much more sort of pop youngsters showing their parents on youtube. All I'm saying is that just because it doesn't "work" for you doesn't mean it won't be helpful in different ways. And, it's worth noting that tisa is using Obama as a selling point, which is interesting to me at least on its own.

- forrestnash

May 8, 2008 at 9:59pm

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I wonder if Muslim groups are going to withdraw their endorsements of Obama after all of the booty shaking in this video.

- nbarry

May 8, 2008 at 10:32pm

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I'm feeling really old.

I can remember the same shots and tropes from The Electric Company and Schoolhouse Rock.

- teplukhin2you

May 9, 2008 at 12:51am

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This will hurt Obama with the white workingclass, at least that seems to be the popular angst among liberal Democrats these days. Perhaps the Democrats should nominate Lester Maddox, George Wallace, Strom Thurmond, or maybe someone who is still alive like Trent Lott. The Democrats will surely win the white working class vote if they nominate one of these characters, and clearly winning the votes of those who want to see blacks "in their place" is the all-important concern of the Democratic Party in 2008 so is it only logical that we should nominate a certified racist?

- matthawk

May 9, 2008 at 3:28am

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Snoop is a multiple felon.

- virginiacentrist

May 9, 2008 at 9:20am

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Thsi is insanely offensive, but I haven't laughed this hard since seeing Borat:

www.youtube.com/watch

- virginiacentrist

May 9, 2008 at 9:22am

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Everything old is new again, Tep.

Ba.  Rack.  Barack.

- adaglas

May 9, 2008 at 10:18am

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I think Tisa is one of Bootsy Collins' lost love-children. The kid whose mom told him about that one night she kocked boots backstage at the Dee-Lite concert, now dons some hipster shades, tight ass pants, disco boots and wings.

Tep if you think Tisa makes you feel old check out these guys...The best Jewish/Arab collaboration I know of. Chromeo is rocking it with that vocoder.

www.youtube.com/watch

- singlespeed

May 9, 2008 at 11:49am

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This video should be shown in all the retirement homes and sent out directly to all AARP members. This one rocks and will turn the tide with the Democratic base. If this video doesn't Barack The Vote among the older white Democrats I don't know what will.

My guess is that McCain and his swift boaters will be greatly appreciative of the creative effort!

- r-brown207

May 9, 2008 at 11:57am

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matthawk  - The racism is running both ways in this campaign. The more we fan the flames from either side the worse it is going to get. What is going on now is not bridging the gap or improving the long-term resolution of racism but rather illustrating and intensifying the differences. The 90% vote of blacks for Obama is just as racist as is the high percentage of working class white voting for Hillary. Political differences between Hillary and Obama does not account for the split of the votes. I'm not up on my list of black racists so I can't provide a long list of candidates as a suggestion. The whites you listed are simply better known.

- r-brown207

May 9, 2008 at 12:10pm

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As a sixty-five-year-old white male, I liked the ad.  It suggests, for one thing, that hip hop is something more than gangsta rap.  It also indicates the possible direction of an Obama campaign in the general election: to emphasize getting portions of his existing base (blacks and young people, traditionally low-turnout groups) to vote more than trying to win over Reagan Democrats.  This could lead to a major political realignment, with Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Texas, and Mississippi (!) going for Obama to offset possible losses in such states as Ohio.

- johnpeters

May 9, 2008 at 12:12pm

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Coincidentally I am also making my own pro-Obama short film. It features the Sonoma Hooker in a nun's habit, a specially configured DustBuster, tweezers, twelve anorexic African-born Parisian models as "The Darfur Dozen," a large tub of I Can't Believe It's Not Butter, some assorted rock-climbing gear, a carton of cherry-flavored Popsicles, and Wendy, the Wonder Llama.

Look for SH, Wendy, and the Darfur Dozen to introduce a new dance routine, the Seizurlingus.

Unlike all these other folks who are foolishly releasing their pro-Obama videos now, before he's even elected, I plan to release mine right after he's taken office in January along with larger Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress. Boys and girls, can you say "Congratulations on your NEA grant, williamyard!"?

- williamyard

May 9, 2008 at 1:03pm

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"The 90% vote of blacks for Obama is just as racist as is the high percentage of working class white voting for Hillary."

Dumbest comment ever.

I assume that the many women who are voting for Hillary are sexist!

- virginiacentrist

May 9, 2008 at 1:28pm

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vacentrist:

The youtube link made my day. "Offensive" isn't the half of it--but abso-fucking-lutely hilarious. Thank you.

- sullydog

May 9, 2008 at 5:09pm

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vacentrist, I just watched the video

[williamyard genuflects]

Thank you.

- williamyard

May 9, 2008 at 8:57pm

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Williamyard made me LOL.

So did Bootsy Collin's lost love child's rap vid ... after I stopped blinking :)

- jobeek2

May 9, 2008 at 9:34pm

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I am a 52-YO white Jewish woman.  I thought the video was hilarious. I'd also rather have gangsta rappers engaged in the political process than angrily alienated from it.  Yeah, it would scare my mother-in-law.  But guess what?  I talk to her.

- yiscah

May 11, 2008 at 11:53am

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Once you get over the video, this is actually an insanely catchy track..

this is real and not for play

i'ma vote obama way

we good, we votin, we throwin it up...

Cant help keeping singing it.

- jobeek2

May 11, 2008 at 5:24pm

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