Sarah Silverman's Message to Your Grandma in Florida: Vote Obama

[DeepModem Mom]

NYT: Message to Your Grandma: Vote Obama
By DAVE ITZKOFF
Published: October 6, 2008


(Steve Agee)
Sarah Silverman’s new video is called “The Great Schlep.”

It’s still a big if, but if Barack Obama emerges victorious on Election Day, with the swing state Florida in his win column, a modicum of credit may be due Sarah Silverman.

In recent days Ms. Silverman, 37, the acerbic, anything-for-a-laugh comedian, has once again insinuated herself into e-mail inboxes with an online video called “The Great Schlep” (thegreatschlep.com). In it she urges young Jews to encourage any grandparents who live in Florida to vote for Mr. Obama and to withhold visits to their bubbes (grandmas) and zaides (grandpas) if they don’t comply.

“The people that vote there are the elderly Jews, and they’re not voting Obama because his name is scary,” Ms. Silverman said in a telephone interview. “But who has more power with them than their grandchildren?”

With its mix of sarcasm and sincerity, “The Great Schlep” may come as a surprise to Ms. Silverman’s fans. After all, she is a comedian known for her vulgar music videos; her superlatively silly Comedy Central show, “The Sarah Silverman Program” (which returns on Wednesday, before moving to its regular Thursday-night time slot); and her appearance in the documentary “The Aristocrats,” in which she facetiously claimed that she had been molested by the talk show host Joe Franklin....

In “The Great Schlep,” which was produced by the Jewish Council for Education and Research, a political action committee, and the advertising agency Droga5, Ms. Silverman is mostly being honest. Her praise for Mr. Obama (“the goodest person we’ve ever had as a presidential choice,” she calls him in the video) and her desire to promote discussion between generations is genuine, she says. She’s mostly kidding when she says, “If Barack Obama doesn’t become the next president of the United States, I’m going to blame the Jews.”

For the organizations behind “The Great Schlep” (which has been viewed more than seven million times since being posted online two weeks ago), Ms. Silverman was an ideal personality to connect with politically aware youth who regard satires like “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” as legitimate sources of news....

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/07/arts/television/07sara.html?em

Link to video, "The Great Schlep": http://thegreatschlep.com/site/index.html

[blue-kite]

1. Ok... I'm glad for this... even if she is as funny as a brick.

Cheers
BK