Jeb Bush’s super PAC Right to Rise used stock video images from England and Asia for its new video, which seeks to contrast the former Florida governor's optimism about America's future with Donald Trump's pessimism about its present.One video clip in the ad is also from England, and there's another clip from Asia.
The video, which opens with clips of the real estate mogul edited to look sinister, says that Trump is in a “very dark place.”
The video, called "Bright," then pivots to the sun rising in a field...
The only problem: The sun is rising over a field in Cornwall, England -- a clip available for between $19 and $79 on Shutterstock.
But does any of that really matter, apart from the fact that it's an embarrassment to Bush? And why is that the key flaw of the ad? It seems to me that the ad's real problem is that it's meant to exude optimism, but instead it just seems to say, "Hey! I'm optimistic! I'm a really, really optimistic guy! I'm just brimming over with optimism!" If you have to grab people by the lapels and insist to them that you're upbeat and hopeful for the future of America, I think you're failing to get optimism across the way actual optimists do.
In 1992, Jeb's father, hoping to win reelection and struggling in the polls, was trying to persuade the audience for one of his speeches that he really cared about them. To get this message across, he reportedly read a bullet point from his notes that wasn't supposed to be part of the speech: "Message: I care."
Twenty-three years later, this is "Message: I'm optimistic." "Message: I'm cheerful." "Message: I'm Mr. Smiley Face."
The problem is, Jeb seems miserable and defeated even as he proclaims his optimism, while the negative things Trump says are uttered with such good cheer -- Trump, at least, is clearly having the time of his life in this campaign -- that Trump seems more optimistic than Jeb. And, of course, there is that "Make America Great Again" slogan, which isn't dark or gloomy (although Trump's fans probably assume that the way Trump will make America great again is by doing nasty things to the people they hate).
Why would you take an aspect of an opponent's campaign that's actually connecting with voters and make an ad saying to those voters, in effect, "You don't like this! You may think you do, but you don't"? Pathetic.
4 comments:
"If you have to grab people by the lapels and insist to them that you're upbeat and hopeful for the future of America, I think you're failing to get optimism across the way actual optimists do."
Same goes for the exclamation point on Jeb!. It fails to make him seem exciting or notable.
I think it was the guy who wrote the Rolling Stone piece who noted that Trump's version of Reagan's "Let's Make America Great Again" is both less inclusive & more "bossy".
This is just a clumsy, failed attempt to reproduce "Morning in America."
"The problem is, Jeb seems miserable"
I've noticed that as well, watched him on Colbert. Maybe he's miserable because he's reluctant to 'be' the president and is just running because it's expected/asked to. Maybe he's miserable because he's seen first hand (twice) how awful of a job it really is.
It made me feel sorry for him and the position he's in - but I'm a bleeding heart liberal so that was a natural response.
Post a Comment