Martin Eisenstadt: Pundit or Fraud?
Filmmakers Dan Mirvish and Eitan Gorlin Duped Several Media Outlets
Anatomy of a Political Hoax
In addition to the Eisenstadt character, Gorlin and Mirvish also created the Harding Institute -- chosen because Warren Harding was one of the few presidents who didn't already have an organization in his name -- to be the think tank that employed the "pundit."
"We wanted to have this character like a lot of the pundits who would have 'macaca' moments where he'd say something really offensive and be captured on YouTube," said Mirvish.
"Then he'd have to do damage control: After all, that's the great art of Washington, how to apologize," he said.
One of the first videos to appear was a fake interview between Eisenstadt and an actor posing as an Iraqi television reporter, during which Eisenstadt suggested building a mosque inside a proposed casino in the Green Zone.
After the interview was leaked -- purposefully by Mirvish and Gorlin -- on YouTube, the Harding Institute issued an apology in a July press release, writing, "If anyone in the Muslim community was offended by those remarks, I sincerely apologize."
The apology, much to Mirvish's delight, was picked up by various news outlets.
But not everything that Eisenstadt blogged about was false.
When news of Palin's expensive wardrobe was leaked, Mirvish said that he did "legwork real journalists probably should have been doing" to research the money the campaign had been spending on makeup artists.
Mirvish claims to have discovered that there was a third person who had been paid by the RNC who, upon further investigation of the party's FEC filings, was responsible for Palin's fake tan -- not her makeup.
"That's the kind of thing that, with all due respect, you guys should have figured out," said Mirvish.
News of Palin's spray tan later spread throughout the blogosphere.
As Election Day came and went, Mirvish and Gorlin assumed their work was done and prepared to allow a newspaper to expose them -- press, after all, was what they had been after from the start.
But when MSNBC aired their report Monday, Mirvish said they knew their prank was still going.
"We thought, 'Oh, my God, Palin is the gift that keeps on giving,'" he said.
What's Next for Martin Eisenstadt?
After nearly two years of Eisenstadt, Mirvish and Gorlin aren't sure what they'll create next.
A book offer is already on the table, said Mirvish, who is eager to go back to work in Hollywood.
As for Gorlin, he seems hopeful that Eisenstadt will keep evolving as time goes on.
"[Eisenstadt] is going to have to keep living," he said. "I think the last Republican is going to have to find a place in the 'Yes we Can' generation."
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