Rick Perry Strong Video
If you look at Rick Perry’s “Strong” YouTube video, substantively more than 99% of viewers who have liked/disliked it have disliked it. This is because it’s homophobic. However, if you look at Rick Perry’s Obamacare video, the campaign has disabled comments.
This is interesting. It suggests that Rick Perry wants to perceived as someone with a disagreed-with stance on gays in the military, and removing separation of church and state. However, it also suggests that Rick Perry doesn’t want to be perceived as someone with a disagreeable stance on healthcare. The myth he is propagating is that Christians are being persecuted in America, even though they made America great, and so he is the victim in this scenario, standing up for what is right (ie homophobia and Christianity + Government), but also that the current White House is so out of touch with every-day Americans that they are forcing Obamacare on us, when nobody wants it. Clever. By removing comments and likes/dislikes, he is basically forcing us back into perceiving the video as if it was a spot on TV, where his campaign controls the entire experience.
This is clever. I think he has made a misstep with the homophobia, in that he thinks that there is a broad homophobic base, when it is less than half of America, the military has wanted DADT to be repealed for a while, and the homophobic constituency shrinks as old people die. Can’t wait until the Republican party figures out it’s detrimental to keep homophobia a plank in their platform.
