McConnelling: The Birth Of An Epic Political Meme! [VIDEO]
Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell probably never thought he’d be the inventor of an internet meme sweeping across the web like a virus. The term “McConnelling” has now become synonymous with incorporating Mitch McConnell’s smiling mug into miscellaneous videos, or incorporating different music in Mitch McConnell’s campaign video.
Earlier this week, Kentucky Republican Mitch McConnell released a campaign video. McConnell emphasized how he would work for his state’s people. There were no words spoken. Instead, it was a taped montage of McConnell among his community, kind of like his version of a politician’s “shaking hands and kissing babies.” Also, it was silent, maybe in an attempt to prevent anyone from auto-tuning him like his campaign did to Alison Lundergan Grimes.
McConnell’s campaign video is embedded below:
Just from the video, it is evident in the beginning Mitch McDonnell wanted to emphasize his smiling face. The internet took this in kind, coming up with a horde of videos emphasizing the art of “McConnelling.”
The first videos of McConnelling to appear on the web are of Mitch McConnell’s smiling face being incorporated into the opening title sequences of 90s sitcoms, and ending credits of 80s movies. The two more popular ones right now are from Full House and the movie Top Gun. The videos are shown below:
A day later, his tea party opponent, Matt Bevin, made a remix of the campaign. However, it is the Daily Show which would take Mitch McConnell’s campaign in a direction that would spark the meme. On the show, the task presented was to determine if any song existed could pair up perfectly with the footage from Mitch McConnell’s campaign video. The experiments proved no song exists, but Jon Stewart demanded that the Internet continue his research…and they sure did!
This meme actually may work in Mitch McConnell’s favor. According to the Washington Post, Jason Zengerle wrote a profile for McConnell in Politico Magazine last November. It read:
Mitch McConnell has never been a beloved politician. Over the course of his career, he has been likened to everything from a warmed-over vanilla milkshake to “a man with the natural charisma of an oyster.” But for the 71-year-old Kentucky senator, the minority leader of the United States Senate, that has long been an asset, not a failing. His glower has usually been enough to dissuade those who consider crossing him. “He doesn’t say anything. He just sits there and stares at you,” says one person who has felt McConnell’s ire. “It’s bone-chilling.”
Eventually, someone would pair the epic political meme of McConnelling with another epic internet meme. Evidently there is a song, a theme, actually, that works with Mitch McConnell’s campaign video. Why? Because, technically, this theme goes with everything, from the racist KFC commercial to Bollywood versions of Chuck Norris.
The cool thing about this meme is that people aren’t laughing at Mitch McConnell. They are laughing with him. McConnell’s campaign staff has devoted a page to more McConnelling.
