Anyone watching the McCain campaign over the last year and a half has to admire the sheer grit of it. First he staked his entire candidacy on the success of the surge at a time when Iraq seemed on the verge of civil war and the United States was suffering over 100 combat deaths a month. The surge now appears to have succeeded. Next, in August of 2007, when his campaign looked all but dead in the water, he chopped his staff back to bare bones, replacing some key players, and of those who remained many worked for free. Together they rebuilt the campaign, and through events not entirely of their making, McCain prevailed in the Republican primary. Then he faced the prospect of a general election campaign against Barack Obama with strong head winds running against anyone from Republican Party. Obama was consistently running ahead of him in the polls, then came the most surprising and gutsy move of his campaign yet. McCain made the announcement and then the fanfare theme music (trumpets and French horns blarring) from the movie “Rudy” played as out strode Governor Sarah Palin. More appropriate music could not have been chosen for a the occasion and the campaign as a whole.

Rudy is based on the true story of the never-say-quit Dan Ruettiger. As a young man with mediocre grades from a working class family, he had no business thinking he could get into Notre Dame, but through much perseverance and a few years later than most, he did; as someone 5’6" tall, 165 lbs, he had no business trying out for the Notre Dame football, but he did; he had no business thinking he would make it as a walk on to the Notre Dame football team (a team always in contention for the national title during the years Rudy attended), but he did; he had no business thinking he would ever be able to suit up for a game, but he did. He had no business thinking he would get in the game, and…then comes the critical moment in the story. It’s been close the entire last home game of the season against Georgia Tech, Rudy’s last chance to play. Finally Notre Dame scores, running an interception in for a touchdown, making it 17-3. The Fighting Irish then recover a fumble with less than a minute to go. 

Everything that is conventional says the Notre Dame quarterback should take a knee and run the clock out: that was the play coach Dan Devine called. The players realize if they follow that course, Rudy, who has spent the last two seasons earning their respect playing defense against them in practice, would not get in the game. The Notre Dame players on the sidelines begin to lead the crowd chanting “Rudy, Rudy, Rudy…” The players on the field decide to overrule their coach and risk everything. The call, “A halfback pass to the right, going for the endzone. A riskier choice could not have been called.  If Tech intercepts the ball and runs it in for a touchdown, they could  potentially go on to win the game. “Hike”, the Rudy fanfare music (that Sarah Palin came on stage to) begins to play as the quarterback fades back and the wide receivers sprint down the field; he pitches to the halfback who starts to run the ball. Coach Devine, watching the play unfold, yells out, “What the hell is he doing!?” The halfback then pulls up and passes toward the endzone, Touchdown!! The team and the crowd go wild and keep chanting, “Rudy, Rudy, Rudy…” Coach Devine relents letting Rudy go in to the game with 27 seconds left to play. 

Now Rudy is on the field for the kickoff.  He runs downs the field, but doesn’t get in on the action. One play left.  Georgia Tech's quarterback fades back. Rudy gets through the offensive line, chases the quarterback down and drops him for a sack. The fans go wild. The theme music plays in the background as Rudy gets carried off the field.   

Not as well publicized was Obama's apparent use of phrasings from the movie The American President during his Democratic Nomination acceptance speech extravaganza at Denver's Invesco Field.  In the movie, President Andrew Shepherd (played by Michael Douglas) attacks his conservative opponent Bob Rumson (Richard Dreyfus) in a climatic monologue near the end of the movie saying, “I was operating under the assumption…that he simply didn’t get it…Bob’s problem isn’t that he does not get it.  Bob’s problem is that he can’t sell it.”  Obama decided his opponent really doesn’t get it: “It’s not because John McCain doesn’t care.  It’s because John McCain just doesn’t get it.”  During that same monologue in the movie, Shepherd calls out Rumson to a debate on specific issues saying, “If you want to talk about character and American values, fine.  Just tell me when and where and I’ll show up.”  Obama did the same thing: “If John McCain wants to have a debate about who has the temperament, and judgment, to serve as the next commander-in-chief, that’s a debate I’m ready to have.”     

Near the end of his acceptance speech, Obama again appeared to draw from the movie.  President Shepherd says in the same monologue quoted above that being "...American isn’t easy” and added further into his remarks, “We have serious problems to solve and we need serious men to solve them.  I promise you whatever your problem is, Bob Rumson is not the least bit interested in solving it.  He’s interested in two things and two things only:  Making you afraid of it and telling you who is to blame for it.  That’s how you win elections…” appealing to earlier and easier times and talking about “family and American values and personal character.”  Obama’s version, “America, our work will not be easy.  The challenges we face require tough choices…They claim that our insistence on something larger, something firmer…is just a Trojan Horse for higher taxes and abandonment of traditional values.  And that is to be expected.  Because if you don’t have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare voters…You make a big election about small things.  And you know what – it’s worked before.” 

Obama went right down the checklist of the imaginary President Shepherd: 1) America, we face serious problems (implied: that only the federal government can solve for you with new programs and spending)--Check.  2) Conservatives don’t want to solve your problems--Check.  3) They only want to scare and manipulate you with appeals to traditional values--Check.  Note, apparently the “small things” Obama is referring to are among others, abortion and how we define marriage and family, since these appear in the preceding paragraph in his speech.