Beyonce praises Michelle Obama in new campaign ad. Will that win votes?
Beyonce is the star of President Obama鈥檚 latest campaign ad. In the spot 鈥� released online Monday 鈥� the singer reads a letter she wrote in April that praises First Lady Michelle Obama.
In the letter Beyonce praises Mrs. Obama as 鈥渢he ultimate example of a truly strong African-American woman鈥�.
鈥淣o matter the pressure and the stress of being under the microscope she鈥檚 humble, loving and sincere. . . she builds and nurtures her family while also looking out for so many millions in so many ways,鈥� says the Grammy-winning performer.
How did the campaign get Beyonce to do this? It wasn鈥檛 hard, apparently 鈥� she and the First Lady have had a mutual admiration society for some time. Beyonce performed at the presidential inauguration in 2009. Michelle took daughters Malia and Sasha to see a Beyonce concert earlier this year, and in May the First Lady told People magazine that if she could be anyone else, it would be You Know Who.
鈥淕osh if I had some gift I鈥檇 be Beyonce, I鈥檇 be some great singer,鈥�
Of course, not everyone thinks that the White House-celebrity culture link is a good one. Republicans have run a number of ads portraying the president as show-business wannabe who doesn鈥檛 understand the problems of regular non-Grammy winning folks. When Obama attended a fundraiser in May at actor George Clooney鈥檚 house, the Republican National Committee put out a press release saying the 鈥�celebrity-in-chief鈥� was raising big Hollywood bucks from his celebrity pals.
That said, we鈥檒l note that the Beyonce ad does not appear to be designed for wide release. It鈥檚 on the campaign鈥檚 YouTube channel, and online ads tend to be aimed at narrow, specific audiences. It鈥檚 probable that the Obama folks will be promoting this by email among demographic groups to which they believe it would appeal. That means young voters, single women, and women in general, most likely.
We鈥檇 also hold that the real star of this ad is not Beyonce, but Michelle Obama. Sure, the singer appears at several moments, reciting her letter aloud, but most of the ad is devoted to video of the First Lady doing First Lady stuff 鈥� talking, dancing, traveling, and so forth. It鈥檚 FLOTUS who gets all the action shots.
That鈥檚 in keeping with the Obama team鈥檚 recent use of the First Lady as something of a campaign secret weapon. While the media obsesses about Obama鈥檚 attacks on Mitt Romney鈥檚 time at Bain, Mrs. Obama has been traveling the country in recent days, raising money and making campaign stops on her own.
On Sunday, for instance, she appeared at a fundraiser in Pocantico Hills, New York. Her remarks were full of references to 鈥渇amily, 鈥済randparents," and so forth. The First Lady held forth at length about her own life story growing up on the South Side of Chicago.
As other commentators have noted, Mrs. Obama has become one of the campaign鈥檚 primary weapons for outreach to the middle class. Perhaps that鈥檚 because she鈥檚 more popular than her husband. A from May 30 puts her favorability ratings at 66 percent 鈥� 14 points better than the president鈥檚 figure.
