I have to say, I'm immensely disappointed by the ad that was so conveniently provided in the other Joe's recent post. Ron Paul has spent the past half-year building himself up as the anti-establishment candidate. He's supposed to be the alternative to carbon-copy Republicans, the man who sounds different and makes sense, the independent-minded candidate who manages to escape political groupthink. He needs to cultivate that image, because if he melts into the mainstream, he doesn't have a chance of making a strong showing (not that he has a very big chance anyway, but why throw away the long shot?).
So, knowing the specific identity he's made for himself, knowing the angles he needs to attack from, Paul's ad team comes up with... that? Really? How does that ad distinguish Paul from any of the other Republican candidates (well, besides the lack of 972 individual utterances of the word "terrorism"), or, hell, any politician of the past 50 years? The spot reeks of so many cliches that I'm astounded Paul didn't opt to throw in a little kid holding an American flag. Let's do a brief run-down of the points the GOP's supposed "dark horse" wanted to hammer home:
He's honest: This is a big one. People have to know that Ron Paul is the honest one, not all the other candidates who talk about honesty in their ads.
He wants out of Iraq: Unique for a Republican Presidential candidate? Sure. Unique for most politicians in the past two years? Well....
He wants to cut spending: Thank God we've finally found a Republican who will run on that platform.
He wants to protect personal freedoms: You know, in contrast with all the candidates who talk about getting rid of freedom.
He knows New Hampshire's state motto: ...and can also tell it apart from Vermont.
He's attractive to college students: Possible "October surprises" include hosting a kegger and releasing a "Ron Paul Supporters Gone Wild" DVD.
He's a doctor, so he'll understand healthcare: Just like Bush was a governor, so he understood how to be President.
He's catching on with bearded, slightly awkward white men: With a demographic like that, how can he lose?
Someone needs to be fired from that campaign staff in a jiffy.
