Thursday, July 17, 2008

I Didn't Know Godzilla Managed A Private Equity Fund

You're gotta love an ad that uses old Godzilla footage to slam PE firms - if just for the sheer shlock factor (say that three times fast...).

I was curious about the McCain reference in the video (it seemed to come out of nowhere). Then I checked and found out that the ad was paid for by the Service Employees International Union. Like most other unions, they're big Obama supporters. In fact, they were just mentioned in Wednesday's Wall Street Journal (unfortunately, I can't find a link to the piece just yet).

It's a pretty interesting mishmash of messages with a populist slant. It starts off with the obligatory gas pump picture (the economy is hard, and it's the fault of the eeeeeevil buyout firms) , and then shifts to say that there's a group of people who make millions and slash jobs. And worse yet, /sarcasm on/ they get tax breaks for doing it! /sarcasm off/

So, I guess the message to take from this is that gas prices are high, the economy is tanking, and it's all the fault of buyout firms with tax breaks.

But at least it was educational - I didn't realize John McCain and people at PE firms could breathe fire. That alone would be enough to get them my vote (if just for the coolness factor). Hey - if the Presidential campaign doesn't work out and McCain gets tired of the Senate, he could get a job in commercials.