Patton Oswald and Aimee Mann | by Ben
In the June/July 2005 issue of "The Beliver", the interview and commentary magazine put out by McSweeney's, the comedian Patton Oswald (Comedians of Comedy) is having a conversation with friend Aimee Mann about politics:
AM: Bush was perfectly cast to win. As Democrats, we always end up going for the guy who is a great actor and not a great movie star. The Republicans have a movie star. All we've got are these actors from Australia that nobody has heard of.PO: We've got Paul Giamatti, and they've got Ben Affleck combined with Collin Farrell.
AM: They're just much better at casting.
Later, a comment on Bush's popularity
AM: Bush was never really judged on his merits. It was all about image, and he played into it very well. I think there was something about Bush that reminded people of a dad they never had. He's more of a dream phantom president. He doesn't exist as a person; he exists as an image that people want to buy into.
And finally, a comment about how the Republicans talk:
PO: And the Republicans have started to pick up on that. All these evil conservative demigod motherf****rs have stolen the language of rebellious rock and roll. They've taken the funky, cracker swagger and used it to their advantage.
It's a really funny interview, and I found it interesting for these smart people who live as performers look at the right's marketing as a co-opting of show business practices.