Perception Versus Reality

First I would like you to take a look at this attack ad from New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine directed at his opponent Chris Christie.



Now I want you to read this description of the ad in the New York Times.

It is about as subtle as a playground taunt: a television ad for Gov. Jon S. Corzine shows his challenger, Christopher J. Christie, stepping out of an S.U.V. in extreme slow motion, his extra girth moving, just as slowly, in several different directions at once.

In case viewers missed the point, a narrator snidely intones that Mr. Christie “threw his weight around” to avoid getting traffic tickets.

In the ugly New Jersey contest for governor, Mr. Corzine and Mr. Christie have traded all sorts of shots, over mothers and mammograms, loans and lying. But now, Mr. Corzine’s campaign is calling attention to his rival’s corpulence in increasingly overt ways.

Mr. Corzine’s television commercials and Web videos feature unattractive images of Mr. Christie, sometimes shot from the side or backside, highlighting his heft, jowls and double chin.
Meanwhile, Mr. Corzine, 62, is conspicuously running in 5- and 10-kilometer races almost every weekend, as he did last Saturday and Sunday, underscoring his athleticism and readiness for the physical demands of another term — and raising doubts about Mr. Christie’s.

Next, he and a fellow fitness buff, Mayor Cory A. Booker of Newark, will run through the streets of that city together next Tuesday.

The governor denies that he is deliberately ridiculing Mr. Christie’s weight, and tries to make light of such suggestions. “There isn’t a candidate in the world that likes how they’re depicted in their opponent’s ads,” Mr. Corzine said on Friday, smiling as he lamented that some have shown his bald pate. “Seems to be some sensitivity going on here.”

But the unflattering depictions of Mr. Christie, a Republican who has long struggled with his size, have been the talk of the political world in New Jersey, with Democrats snickering and Christie supporters privately complaining. The governor’s latest ad, which featured the “threw his weight around” line and was expected to be seen by some viewers as many as 10 times, brought sharp reaction, even from those who like Mr. Corzine.

“There’s no subtlety there,” said Bill Baroni, a Republican state senator from Hamilton who lost 130 pounds starting 15 years ago. “That’s not a randomly chosen phrase. It’s purposeful. And it’s offensive.”

Mr. Baroni said that Mr. Corzine risked a backlash from the “tens of thousands” of New Jerseyans who struggle with their weight. “It is a lifetime battle,” he said. “And it’s made harder when people that you expect better from make fun of you.”

Mr. Christie calls the ad “silly” and “stupid,” but there are signs that the images may be contributing to a more negative view of Mr. Christie.

Does that description line up with what you saw? It didn't for me. Not really much at all.

To be honest with you I have only followed Jon Corzine's campaign superficially. When something major has come up I have tried to post about it just off general principle, but its not like I have been gung ho about defending or promoting the guy's campaign. But the truth is the truth is the truth and I don't think it is being told in the New York Times article. It appears instead to be almost a concerted effort to attack Corzine at a soft spot where he might lose support,people who have dealt or are dealing with obesity issues. Journalists know that most people are lazy and won't actually go to watch the video for themselves. Instead we rely on them to give us an accurate picture of such a video and tell us how we should feel about it.

Now I myself am far from being a small guy, and I know how it feels to be ridiculed and made fun of for being fat growing up. But if I had watched this video without every having read the article I don't think I would have even paid much attention to that last shot of Christie getting out of the truck. For that matter it wouldn't have registered to me that "throwing his weight around" was some kind of veiled shot at him for being fat. But you would think from the description that the entirety of the ad was one big fat joke making fun of Christie's weight. For the overwhelming majority of the ad you don't even see any images of Christie and at first when you do all you see is a head shot. And then because there is a slow motion shot of him getting out of a truck in a shirt and tie Christie is making fun of all fat people? What exactly were the ad people supposed to do, photoshop Christie into a skinny guy? Maybe even most curious of all is that the article makes no mention of the actual charges in the ad which you have to admit are pretty serious.

Now I am not claiming that the New York Times is trying to somehow actively prejudice voters against Corzine in his reelection bid. But I AM saying that this was a pretty shitty piece of journalism not grounded in the facts from my perspective.

What do you think?