Who Speaks for America?

July 17, 2008 • 3:02 pm • POSTED BY bradley

One of the fun random parlor games I’ve always enjoyed playing while watching/listening to ads is “Guess that Voiceover.” Sure, while many of them are anonymous and unrecognizable, every once in a while you get that “a ha” moment, hearing the familiar voice of a famous celebrity shill. Why, yes, I do believe that is the mellifluous baritone of George Clooney urging me to choose the King of Beers! And who is that solid, all-American man telling me that “America runs on Dunkin’?” Why, it’s John Goodman! (Maybe they pay him in trade…)

Anyway, during the All-Star Home Run Derby contest the other night, I (lo and behold!) recognized the VO talent extolling the virtues of yet another all-American product: John McCain for Prez.

And who was voice? Powers Boothe.

Now, while the appearance of a great character actor performing voice-overs (political ad or not) is not necessarily notable, what is fun to mention is that Powers Boothe is the man behind two of the most creepy, ruthless villains to grace the small screen in quite some time, Vice President Noah Daniels on “24″ and Cy Tolliver on “Deadwood.”

I’m just reporting; now, you can decide what political commentary you’d like to adopt from witnessing the strategy of McCain’s image-making team.

Check out one of McCain’s spots VO’ed by Boothe here:

And here’s a little introduction to the other part of Boothe’s portfolio for the uninitiated: