Political advertising went from nuclear bombs exploding around little children with flowers to revolving prison doors. Whether positive or negative, the ads were directed to the issues of the day.
But what do you sell when one of a candidate’s biggest perceived problems is that he’s really old. If elected at 72, he would be the oldest person ever elected to the office of President, making William Henry Harrison, old Tippecanoe at 68, an also-ran? Why, put out an ad showing this guy with his mother!
In her 90s, John McCain’s mother is a feisty, sharp old gal, immediately endearing. I just love old-timers who still have some fight left in them, and she is as charming as they come.
This is one of the great ads. Not only does it show John McCain to be the sort of politician who loves his mother, enough to spend his campaign dollars on advertisement featuring her, but it shows two other things: First, that he comes from good stock, the sort that lives a long time and keeps their wits about them well past the age when most consider not drooling to be a good day.
Second, the juxtaposition of McCain with his mother makes him look like a kid. That’s not an easy thing to do when you’re McCain’s age, but he’s managed to accomplish it and do it well. This add takes 20 years off McCain’s perceived age. It’s brilliant.
Of course, the ad is a play to perceptions more than reality. As POTUS, the pressures on McCain will be unlike anything his mother has endured in her very long life. It’s one thing to sit around the club and sip scotch, as opposed to being the leader of the free world (do we still say that?) and commander in chief. President is a little more rigorous. As President Bush continually says, “It’s hard work.”
Still, to the extent that a single image can have a widespread impact on public perception, this is a home run. McCain may have taken his age out of play with this single advertisement. And he loves him Mother as well. No American can help but like a guy who loves his Mom.
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That’s some really badly shot (are they even in the same room?) and edited video.
Talk patiently to someone suffering senile dementia for three hours, and you’re going to find 30 seconds of lucidity that can be stitched together into a coherent ad.
You’ve been chatting up my father again? 30 seconds of lucidity is a record.
You don’t need 30 seconds of continuous lucidity. Two seconds of (apparent) lucidity here and three there, and stitch it together into a 30-second ad, with reaction shots from the candidate shot later.
The candidate doesn’t even need to be there for the interview — since he never touches his mother in the course of the ad, you can shoot her talking to a nice man in a white suit (or to Jesus or Ronald Reagan), separately shoot him smiling lovingly at an empty chair or at his wife, and edit the two bits together later.