PlayPolitical.com - Hall of Fame

Highlights of State of the Union speeches from America's Presidents

Starting with George W Bush and going back to 1965.

Five memorable moments from US Presidential debates

1960: The 'TV look' of JFK saw frontrunner Robert Nixon lose his advantage.

1984: Reagan promises NOT To exploit his young opponent's "youth and inexperience".

1988: Dan Quayle is the victim of a great putdown from Dukakis' running mate, Lloyd Bentsen of Texas.

2000: When Al Gore moved into George W Bush's zone in 2000 the latter simply nodded in his direction. It was the most-remembered moment of the debate!

2004: Bush, debating with John Kerry, insists that he did not act alone in the Iraq war.

The Berlusconi collection

Berlusconi fakes a sexual act with a traffic warden:
The Stars & Stripes isn't just the flag of the USA but of democracy and freedom everywhere:
Picking his nose...
Slumps at lecturn after making emotional speech:Berlusconi suggests a German Socialist MEP would be perfect for the part of a Nazi concentration camp chief in a movie (Italian language):

Seven of the best: Rory Bremner

Rory Bremner as Tony Blair...

Seven of the best: West Wing

Josh and Toby lose it when they realise they've changed timezones and missed the Airforce One flight:

President Bartlet yells at the UN Secretary General for complaining about being charged for parking tickets:

The ten best political videos of 2007 (UK)

Today - New Year's Eve - we publish the best political videos of 2007 that have come out of Britain...

Welcome to our 'Hall of Fame'

This page of PlayPolitical.com showcases the best political videos of all time.  Some have been chosen because they made millions laugh.  Others because they changed something.  Others because of their cleverness.  You'll probably disagree with the PlayPolitical.com team's choices.  If you have your own suggestions please email us...

PS PoliticalTV.com's Top Ten Of All Time can be watched here.

Pick of the gaffes

These two videos are a reminder that politicians never have private time when they're out in public. Top of the post is Guido Fawkes' 'Here comes the bogeyman' clip. Gordon Brown, on course to be Britain's next Prime Minister, appears to be picking his nose while Tony Blair answers MPs' questions. And at the bottom of the post there's the famous scene where Tory John Redwood is caught not being able to sing the Welsh national anthem... whilst Secretary of State for Wales. More goofs and gaffes here.

The first WebCameron video

The award-winning WebCameron site allows the Tory leader to communicate directly with voters and the now famous 'kitchen sink scene' produced some clever responses (including this from Stephen Tall).  These mini-sites will, over time, evolve into much bigger platforms as the distinctions between newspapers, blogs, campaigning organisations, political parties and broadcasters become more and more blurred.

Child's Pay

This video was the brainwave of Charlie Fisher.  The ad won MoveOn.org's 'Bush in thirty seconds' competition and imaginatively warned that children would be paying the debts built up by the Bush years.  It is a prime example of how 'the creativity of the crowds' can match the creativity of the highly-paid advertising agencies.  Philip de Vellis' anti-Hillary 'Vote Different' ad is part of this trend.

Children Will Pay - Free videos are just a click away

I Won Three Purple Hearts

The best-known political music video of all time? JibJab's version of This Land Is Our Land heaped ridicule on Bush and Kerry.  Tens of millions loved it!

'What We Call The News' is JibJab's more recent offering...

What We Call the News | Send To Friends | Funny Animations at JibJab

John Kerry gets 'SwiftBoated'

The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth produced some of the most controversial political ads in American political history.  John Kerry was running for President and was using his military experience as part of his pitch to voters.  Then the Swift Boat ads were unleashed and the momentum Senator Kerry had hoped to build on the back of his party's Convention was all lost.  The series of ads introduced the whole idea of being 'SwiftBoated' into the polictical lexicon.  The ads also showed that the monopoly of political communication, once the preserve of establishment parties, was well and truly over.

A World Without America

BritainAndAmerica.com's UK-made 'let's not forget what America has done for the world' video was the brainchild of PlayPolitical's own Samuel Coates (who features in our 'You Have The Power' list).  Distributed throughout the US blogosphere - the secret to most video successes - it featured on Fox News and, understandable in sound only, on BBC Radio and on many American talk radio stations. It's an example of the ideological diversity that the internet affords. Private citizens do not necessarily need the backing of big media organisations or political parties to get their messages across.  All they need is a good idea and a blog or two!  There are more issue ads here.

It's Morning in America again

Ronald Reagan’s sunny side-up ‘Morning In America’ advert changed political advertising forever.  We'd love to include two very special British ads in this Hall of Fame.  There was 1987's 'Kinnock The Movie' and 1989's Green Party political broadcast where the cumulative cost of pollution was powerfully exposed by the mock unloading of various pollutants on the heads of children.  If you can help provide us with either of those ads please email us.  Reagan features prominently on our Out of Office pages (with Hitler and Churchill!).

Below the Reagan video is Bill Clinton's 1992 'A Place Called Hope' video.  It was very much in the Reagan mould.

An the winner of the 'can't-get-this-dreadful-tune-out-of-my-head' category...

Be warned: if you watch this cheesy video the tune may stay in your head for days. We include it in the Hall of Fame for its extraordinary cheesy-ness.  Other Australian videos can be watched here.

'I have a dream'

One of the best things about the 'YouTube era' is that old footage is brought back to life and for next-to-no cost.  The two videos here - Martin Luther King's 'I Have A Dream' speech and Nelson Mandela's first-ever interview - are good examples of this phenomenon.