The Democratic Governors Association launched a new web video today as part of a “grassroots” effort to rally Democrats to “Fight The Right” ahead of November.
The video is called “Never Surrender,” and it wants Dems to know that they’re in the company of such luminaries as Bluto from Animal House and Aragorn from Lord Of The Rings, who both also vowed to “never give up.”
The video also somewhat misguidedly uses Howard Beale from Network, who uttered the famous words: “I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!” A noble sentiment, to be sure, but Beale is a character on the verge of a nervous breakdown who (spoiler alert) meets a sticky end.
The DGA is in good company, though, when it comes to selecting questionable heroes: In April the Republican Governors Association cut an a video celebrating 17th century radical Guy Fawkes.
Watch the DGA ad:
Nathan Daschle, DGA executive director, said of the ad:
This is a volatile political environment - all the more reason to rally our base. Today’s Republican party is dominated by the Tea Party-Sarah Palin fringe, which is forcing candidates further and further to the right. Governors are traditionally immune to ideological purity contests, but today’s GOP won’t accept anything short of rigid adherence to an out-of-touch dogma. All this at a time when the stakes in the 37 governors’ races this fall couldn’t be higher - they’ll affect Congressional majorities, redistricting, the 2012 Presidential race, not to mention the lives of hardworking men and women.
Jillian Rayfield
Jillian Rayfield is a Reporter/Blogger for TPM, and started as a News Intern in May 2009. She graduated from Cornell University in May 2008 with a degree in Film, and worked as a Research Assistant for a market research firm in London in between.
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