Jun 20, 2007 8:00 am US/Eastern
Clinton Spoofs 'Sopranos,' Announces Campaign Song
WASHINGTON (CBS News) ―
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In the new Clinton clip, Hillary Clinton, like Tony Soprano, spins through the musical selections in a diner in the New York suburbs.
HILLARYCLINTON.COM
The scene: A diner and a jukebox. A nostalgic song. A cut to black. It worked on the finale for "The Sopranos." It now marks a new beginning for "The Clintons."
Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign unveiled its new campaign song Tuesday with a Web video that spoofs the final scene of the mobster series.
The video caps a month-long, interactive Internet campaign that drew more than a million viewers to Clinton's campaign Web site and to YouTube, the popular online video display room.
In the new Clinton clip, Hillary Clinton, like Tony Soprano, spins through the musical selections in a diner in the New York suburbs, as her husband, former President Bill Clinton, quizzes her about the campaign and the song contest winner.
The "Sopranos" touches are subtle but perfectly obvious to any fan of the series.
The music that plays through the video is not Dion's but Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" — the same song that Tony Soprano chooses from the jukebox in the show's final scene. At one point, actor Vince Curatola (who played New York mob boss Johnny "Sack" Sacramoni in the series) walks menacingly past the Clintons' table.
Tony Soprano ordered onion rings. Hillary orders carrot sticks for Bill. "No onion rings?" the former president asks forlornly.
"Where's Chelsea?" Sen. Clinton asks. Outside a car tire hits the curb. "Parallel parking," President Clinton replies.
"How's the campaign going?" he asks.
"Well, like you always say, focus on the good times."
"So what's the winning song?" he presses.
"You'll see."
"My money is on Smash Mouth," he says. "Everybody in America wants to know how it's going to end."
"Ready?" Hillary asks.
The scene cuts to black.
But unlike "The Sopranos," it is not over. You can click to hear Celine Dion's "You and I," picked as the official Clinton song, and a new page pops up. The most prominent word stands out against a red background:
"Contribute."
"Humor, when it is funny, is the most effective political tool of all," said CBS News chief Washington Correspondent Bob Schieffer. "For all her political skills, Hillary Clinton has never been really known for a sense of humor. This thing is hilarious. And I think it is going to help her campaign. I think it's one of the cleverest things I've seen in a long, long time."
The selection of Dion, who was born in Canada, resulted in some smirking accusations from Republicans that Clinton had "outsourced" her music. In fact, Dion's "You and I" has done a turn as a theme song already — for Air Canada in 2004.
But the song campaign and the video also illustrate the growing effort by some of the more technologically savvy campaigns to connect with voters and potential donors in clever, relatively inexpensive formats that are infused with pop culture references, contemporary themes or intimate moments.
Just this week, the campaign of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a Republican, posted a video featuring Romney's wife, Ann, narrating scenes of Christmas vacation last year when the family reached the decision to pursue the White House.
Amid scenes of children, grandchildren, in-laws and pets, Ann Romney gestures towards family members seated around a lunch table. "This is our kitchen cabinet," she said.
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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