Doppelganger Political Commercials @VeepHBO @justinlmack @emrosenberg @indystar @washingtonpost

Eli Rosenberg at the Washington Post points out the "life imitates art" resemblances between Senator Joe Donnelly (D-IN)'s new campaign commercial and that for character Jonah Ryan, who ran for Congress in the popular TV series "Veep." Cue the plaid shirt and tree-chopping activities. Mr. Rosenberg cites some tele-analysis from Justin L. Mack and Holly V. Hays at the Indianapolis Star, who note that "there are some differences. For example, Donnelly does his own narration...while Ryan uses a voiceover. And Donnelly, showing his love of responsible wood chopping, makes sure to wear gloves and safety goggles whenever he takes a swing. Ryan recklessly eschews both."

It's interesting that the real candidate does his own talking, and the fictional one uses a voiceover. Is that a comment on IRL candidates with slick (read Hollywood-esque) production values? And the contrasting axe wielding techniques are interesting, too. Is the real candidate sending a message about safety around dangerous devices? Is Veep telling us (as if we didn't know) that some politicians actually fake their love of the outdoors in order to appeal to some of the public? Or perhaps that they're actually clueless about safety, theirs and ours? Does Senator Donnelly's campaign indicate that he's actually yearning for a veep spot? Or is a campaign commercial just a campaign commercial?