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The Yuckster: Bob Dole, after politics
National Review, April 30, 2001 by John J. Miller
Next came a slew of commercials. Other losing candidates-Dan Quayle, Geraldine Ferraro, Mario Cuomo-had made commercials, but for Dole it amounted to a new career. First was an ad for Air France, featuring Dole's picture under the caption, "Not doing anything?" Then there was one for Visa, which set Dole in what seemed to be a "homecoming" parade in Russell, Kan. (It was actually shot in a couple of Texas towns.) Dole winds up in a local store, tries to make a purchase, and is asked for ID. "I just can't win!" he cracks. Dole also appeared in ads for Dunkin' Donuts and Target. He gave much of his personal proceeds to charity, yet there was still something unseemly about it all. Losing with a smile is one thing; repeatedly poking fun at your loss-in a campaign to which thousands of people anonymously devoted themselves because they seriously believed in a man and his ideas-is another. Nowadays Dole is more likely to be seen on Comedy Central's Daily Show than on Meet the Press. He's not an elder statesman so much as an aging comic.
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He is best known, of course, as a poster boy for Viagra. Impotence is surely a difficult condition, and one of the primary hurdles facing men who might benefit from the drug is the awkwardness of asking for a prescription. The whole object of Viagra's ongoing ad campaign is to destigmatize the product. As Dole himself said in his commercial, "You know, it's a little embarrassing to talk about E.D. [erectile dysfunction], but it's so important to millions of men and their partners that I decided to talk about it publicly." It's a little embarrassing to listen to Bob Dole talk about it publicly. Frankly, I'd rather know whether he wears boxers or briefs. And what's this business about men and their "partners"? Would it be too judgmental and exclusionary simply to say "wives"? Some things apparently could benefit from restigmatizing.
Bob Dole once knew the value of a good stigma. "Those who cultivate moral confusion for profit should understand this," he warned in his Hollywood speech, before turning positively Churchillian. "We will name their names and shame them as they deserve to be shamed. We will contest them for the heart and soul of every child, in every neighborhood. If we refuse to condemn evil, it is not tolerance but surrender. And we will never surrender."
At least not until we can appear in a Pepsi commercial with Britney Spears.
COPYRIGHT 2001 National Review, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group
