Thoughts on the First Long Thompson Ad
Well, here it is. It’s not quite as negative as some had initially implied; more like a ham-fisted attempt to run the 2004 My Man Mitch campaign in reverse, but with the optimistic parts surgically removed and replaced with far-lefty liberal talking points.
(More thoughts on this ad after the leap)
First of all, what is it with the light blue? It’s a weak color, and the fact that both her suit and the right side of the ad are the same shade is somewhat strange. Moreover, the same light blue shows up over and over again in some of the shots of the ad, like the counter behind her when she is shaking hands with people seated in a diner or cafe, and the people she is shaking hands with are almost all wearing blue. There are even frames of the ad, if you go through it in slow motion, that are entirely solid blue, with almost nothing else on them. Some sort of subliminal message? Probably not, but it’s just strange. Is her color palette limited to the color that news networks associate on election night with the Democratic Party?
Second, does Jill Long Thompson only have one suit? She appears in the same outfit in every shot of the ad. Can’t she afford a second set of clothes, perhaps a set that doesn’t match (though perhaps compliments) the coloration of large empty areas of screen in her commercial? Maybe she couldn’t afford to hire the camera crew to film the ad for more than one day.
Third, what’s with her eyes? In multiple shots around the 20 second mark, her eyes are doing this wide and bulging thing that looks unnatural. She’s a candidate for governor, not a crazed madwoman, and I’m pretty sure that the primary experience didn’t drive her completely loopy.
Finally, if she learned the value of hard work and optimism, then why is so much of this ad, well, not optimistic but instead down and harsh on Indiana as a whole?
July 29th, 2008 at 11:55 am
“Finally, if she learned the value of hard work and optimism, then why is so much of this ad, well, not optimistic but instead down and harsh on Indiana as a whole?”
Because the only way Democrats get votes in this state is to beat people down to thinking that only the state can solve their problems, and that the only politicians who are actually smart enough and tough enough to do that are the ones on the Democrat ticket.
That’s how the Carson machine worked all those years (and continues to work today, sadly enough) in the Seventh.
If people would wake up and take responsibility for their own lives, the Democrats would have a lot less support.
July 29th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
I think you are being generous to the ad. (Though there is one shot about 10 seconds in where she is wearing a different suit)
She asserts that the economy in Indiana is bad. She does not back that up and assumes that everyone in the audience (or 50+% of us) will agree with her without evidence. I also noted that her qualification for being Guv is having grown up on a farm. I have aunts, uncles and cousins that have that much qualification.
I didn’t think it was particularly negative ad either. But I thought she wasted her money to produce the ad and will be wasting even more money by placing it on the air.