Depending on how you’re scoring at home, we’ve entered either Phase II, Phase III, or Phase IV of the presidential campaign, the post-Iowa-and-New Hampshire race to Michigan, for the Republicans, and South Carolina, for the Democrats. Since Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have come out with fairly predictable here’s-the-candidate-giving-their-best-speech ads, for this week’s ad analysis we’ll examine what the other candidates have rolled out in the past few days. Let’s start with Rudy Giuliani, who is actually only competing now in Florida. This might be because a significant portion of the electorate there is elderly, and their diminished hearing and vision could slightly delay the inevitable process by which people exposed to Giuliani quickly come to realize they can’t stand him.
Like the other Giuliani spots, this one seems to want to emphasize Rudy’s bleak spirit. He sits in a darkened room, his face half hidden in shadow, like Marlon Brando’s Colonel Kurtz in Apocalypse Now. The final image of him turning toward the camera is right out of a TV drama promo. Along with the crisp photos and graphics, it gives the entire spot a high-gloss feel, yet one that feels divorced from politics. What’s most notable is what’s missing: people. This may not be surprising, since by all accounts, Giuliani isn’t too fond of other members of his species. Let’s contrast that with the most recent offering from John Edwards.
