Bad karaoke, “Top Gun” references and motorcycles — a Democrat running for Congress in Virginia put all that and more in his latest campaign video.
Dan Helmer, a Democrat running to unseat Rep. Barbara Comstock in Virginia’s 10th Congressional District, released his latest campaign video Monday, and it has been making the rounds on social media.
The video starts with Helmer arriving to a bar on a motorcycle, before the words “Helmer Zone” appear on screen in the same font as the “Top Gun” logo.
Helmer’s friend then spots “Rep. Barbara Comstock,” portrayed in the video by a similar-looking woman, at the bar. His friend says, “Bet you can’t get her to hold a town hall.” Helmer responded, “Town hall? I’ll do you one better than that.”
All of a sudden, Helmer grabs a microphone and stands next to “Comstock” with his fellow bar patrons behind him, and begins to sing, “You’ve Lost that Centrist Feeling” to the tune of “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling” — the song sung by Maverick (played by Tom Cruise) in the movie “Top Gun.”
“You never hold town halls anymore with constituents. Planned Parenthood and Obamacare — you voted against. You’re trying hard not to show it. But Barbara … Barbara… you know it. You’ve lost that centrist feeling, cause you’ve been right-wing appealing. We’ve lost that loving feeling, now it’s gone, gone, gone. You’ve got to go.”
“Comstock” then leaves the bar and Helmer and his friend high-five.
“Nice work, Maverick” Helmer tells the friend, to round out the “Top Gun” reference.
Helmer, an Army veteran and West Point graduate, is one of several Democrats running against Comstock. Among the other Democrats running are two well-financed former Obama administration officials, Alison Kiehl Friedman and Lindsey Davis Stover.
“The message is clear. Virginia voters aren’t feeling the love from Rep. Comstock,” Helmer told CNN in an interview. “I think there is too much screaming and shouting in politics and we wanted to come up with a creative way to talk about having a representative who will serve the people of Virginia’s 10th district.”
The 10th district of Virginia is a target seat Democrats hope to flip this year. It is comprised of the western suburbs, including Fairfax and Loudon counties right outside of Washington, DC. Comstock won the district by five points over her Democratic opponent in 2016.
Comstock has been criticized for skipping two “mobile office hours” sessions she had scheduled in late January, as backlash against President Donald Trump and the GOP effort to repeal Obamacare began to build.