The Donald Trump and John Kasich campaigns are out with their debut television ads. Ted Cruz’s affiliated Super PACs, meanwhile, are out with some big ad buys themselves, which attack Marco Rubio.
Let’s review the tapes.
First, is Trump’s ad, which was given some pre-release hype in the form of a 1,400 word sneak preview in the Washington Post.
One useful nugget is Trump’s view of traditional campaign advertising:
To be sure, Trump’s Instagram ads are short and funny. But Trump’s debut television ad? Thoroughly mediocre. Trump speaking directly to a camera would have been a better choice.
In short, it’s nothing we haven’t heard from the Donald before. And worse, it’s not Trump. It’s a bunch of stock footage, news footage, photos, and a narrator. You only hear Trump at the beginning and at the end while the narrator clarifies Trump’s often-changing proposals. (Though, Trump perhaps is suggesting a continuation of an air-only war against ISIS when the ad tells viewers he will “cut off the head of ISIS” as a cruise missle departs a destroyer.)
Trump, perhaps, even acknowledges this when he describes his anonymous ad maker as: “somebody who’s respected very much, somebody’s who’s had a good record of ads.” In the world of Trump, where everything is “the greatest” or “the best”, describing somebody as having a “good record” is faint praise. Faint praise well deserved, because the ad was a dud.
Next is Kasich’s debut ad, which immediately tells viewers they aren’t watching a campaign ad: They’re watching a cross between FX’s Justified and a Ford F-150 commercial complete with a twangy narrator with an accent that isn’t from the Midwest. (Seriously, it syncs perfectly with a Ford F-150 commercial. And Justified. )
Perhaps masking the fact that the Ohio governor was born in (gasp) Pennsylvania, the takeaway here is that John Kasich had a rough draw in life and “never gives up.” A segue to an image of a church after the narrator informs viewers Kasich lost his parents to a drunk driver symbolizes, what else, his faith.
And it wouldn’t be a Kasich ad if it didn’t remind you of Kasich’s popular refrain – join with me now – that John Kasich balanced the federal budget. Images of hard working, ordinary people dot the commercial to insinuate that Kasich has a diverse coalition of supporters, including miners. Mostly biographical, the ad is meant to introduce a low-polling candidate to those who haven’t followed Congress for the past thirty years, watched Fox News, or lived in Ohio. But the only actual Kasich you hear is him approving the message.
Lastly, groups affiliated with Super PACs supporting Ted Cruz called Keep the Promise (what promise?) have come out swinging against Marco Rubio. This new ad comes from “Keep the Promise 1”, as if these groups are but landing ships in a massive pro-Ted Cruz Super PAC navy.
The Washington Post summarizes:
Of course, there is no rule stating that pro-candidate Super PACs must tell viewers who they back when running silly advertisements, but the ad is anti-Rubio plain and simple, it’s not pro-Cruz. Admittedly, Cruz is having trouble being relatable. The candidate once ticketed for beer while underage, is now the candidate who knows you probably don’t want to have a beer with him. One might think the Super PAC would, in a strategy session, think of ways to make their guy relatable.
This Super PAC’s strategy? Take one of the most relatable things about the opponent (Rubio’s love of fantasy football), frame it in a way where it is completely out of context, and attack it. It’s bizarre, but perhaps a (failed) attempt to take Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals out for a spin. And right into a ditch.
Perhaps “Keep the Promise 2” will have better luck.
