Attack of the Presidential Homunculi

From Dean Barnett at HughHewitt.com, the blog so deep in the tank for Mitt Romney that you get the bends reading it:

When you click on MittRomney.com, a little talking version of Mitt pops up, gives you the skinny on the site and asks for some jingle. It’s pretty cool, a little odd, and like nothing else I’ve ever seen a politician do... Allah and I both thought the Mini-Mitt thing was pretty righteous. Yeah, it was a little weird and a little short of artistic perfection, but it was also very cool. It was like nothing we’ve ever seen.

And here's a screenshot of the magic Mini-Mitt.

Incredible! Innovative! Unless you clicked on the website of would-be Democratic presidential candidate Mark Warner more than a year ago, when his web guy Jerome Armstrong launched the exact same kind of "mini" candidate. Note the tiny talking Warner at the bottom of the page.

No larger point here, other than the easily-impressed nature of Romney supporters and the fruit-fly-like memories people have about political campaigns.

Comments

Cab | June 21, 2007, 8:41am | #

Poor Romney.

Chucklehead | June 21, 2007, 8:58am | #

Nice FMA reference there Dave.

Jesse Walker | June 21, 2007, 9:09am | #

Talking websites = making sure people are too distracted to actually read the website.

Also, the mini-Mitt bears an uncomfortable resemblance to the MS Word paperclip.

Fluffy | June 21, 2007, 9:11am | #

I think in addition to being easily impressed there's the issue of having to provide a lot of daily commentary.

Since Hugh has to come up with a new way to love Mitt every day, it's inevitable that he'll periodically scrape up against the bottom of the barrel.

Lost_In_Translation | June 21, 2007, 9:17am | #

never trust the little people, especially the little versions of politicians. They're evil!!!

norbizness | June 21, 2007, 9:19am | #

Did somebody just use the adjective "righteous"? What's next? "Tubular" press releases?

J sub D | June 21, 2007, 9:22am | #

They got little hands
And little eyes
And they walk around
Tellin' great big lies

Sorry, I couldn't help myself.

Mr. X | June 21, 2007, 9:22am | #

You have an extra 'u' in homunculi, Dave.

D.A. Ridgely | June 21, 2007, 9:22am | #

If his campaign fails, at least he has an audition tape for one of the Microsoft Office assistant icons.

joe | June 21, 2007, 9:27am | #

"a little talking version of Mitt pops up, gives you the skinny on the site and asks for some jingle"

Wow, it really is a miniature Mitt Romney!

jb | June 21, 2007, 9:33am | #

This is one part of politics I'm glad to be rationally ignorant about.

Lou | June 21, 2007, 9:54am | #

So wait, you're upset that people didn't recognize a web-site feature that Mark Warner used? Really??

whatever | June 21, 2007, 9:55am | #

Yea, but mini-Mitt wears a suit coat.

Warren | June 21, 2007, 9:57am | #

Cool? It's just stupid. I hate overly cute websites. They take too long to load,and they tie up your processor. Just a bunch of aggravation for two seconds of "how novel".

stephen the goldberger | June 21, 2007, 10:07am | #

how bodacious

VM | June 21, 2007, 10:10am | #

"Just a bunch of aggravation for two seconds of "how novel"."

good call, Warren!

Seth | June 21, 2007, 10:20am | #

Mike Gravel had a similar feature on his website when he launched his campaign around April of 2006. I suspect that predates even Mark Warner's homunculus.

joe | June 21, 2007, 10:21am | #

Did Mini-Gravel just stare gravely at the viewer for a several minutes?

[e-mail] | June 21, 2007, 10:28am | #

Well, c'mon, it was on Mark Warner's website. No wonder they didn't know about it.

Randolph Carter | June 21, 2007, 10:35am | #

Wow, that blogger has the most obnoxious style I've ever read. "Gives you the skinny and asks for some jingle"? Sounds like 1920's heroin dealer lingo.

Also joe, don't you mean he stared gravelly?

James Anderson Merritt | June 21, 2007, 10:53am | #

Let's see if any of these guys can come up with anything more entertaining or memorable than Steve Kubby's gubernatorial ad from 1998.

http://www.dougscribner.com/thirdwheel/success.htm

Just stick new heads on the opponents and it's completely up-to-date (except now, Kubby is running for President instead of CA Governor). Ah, the classics!

SDM | June 21, 2007, 10:58am | #

Warner wasn't the only one. Not only did Tim Mahoney have a tiny version of himself on his site, but he also had a tiny version of his daughter explaining what a good guy he was on another page.

SPD | June 21, 2007, 11:57am | #

Mayoral candidate Michael Nutter did the same thing on philly.com's web site during the Democratic primary (known in Philadelphia as "the election").

Adam | June 21, 2007, 12:25pm | #

Yea but, Mini-Mit came from the RIGHT side of the page.

pam | June 21, 2007, 12:34pm | #

who stinkin' cares?

crimethink | June 21, 2007, 12:45pm | #

I friggin hate those ads that fly across the page you're trying to read and block it until you can find the close button (which is usually dark-gray-on-black). Yet another reason to detest Moroni's White Horseman.

David-Adam | June 21, 2007, 2:00pm | #

I don't care, and yet I'll be very worried when they start doing a strip-tease on the screen, too.

Why?

Because it'll guarantee Obama to win the popular vote.

Joe Biden | June 21, 2007, 2:33pm | #

Well, he is very clean. And sexy.

Jammer | June 21, 2007, 6:56pm | #

And articulate, Mr. Biden. Don't forget articulate.

LeftCoast | June 21, 2007, 7:50pm | #

Yes, but does Obama have a manly scent?

brittany | June 29, 2007, 10:55pm | #

i noticed that country music star trace adkins did the same thing - its cool http://www.innovateads.com/ex-online-video-trace-adkins-spokesperson.php