A Tale of Two Ads (or Three, If You Count the Primaries)

The Trump and Hillary ads that I saw last night were the best political ads that I had seen in the 2016 general election.  I got goosebumps after watching both of them!  They were very well done.  In this post, I would like to comment on each ad, and add some side-comments.

A.  Here is a link to the Trump ad.  As a dramatic soundtrack plays, Trump is giving a speech against the elites, whom he claims are concerned for their own interests rather than the interests of American workers.  Images are shown of these elites, including Wall Street, Hillary Clinton, and Janet Yellen.  Trump says that the only one who can stop this is “you.”  Images appear of Americans from different races, looking into the camera, and Trump says that he is fighting for them.  There are images of Trump enjoying the campaign, as he gives a thumbs-up to supporters and claps (I think it was at an African-American church).

The anti-elite part of the ad reminded me of a John Birch Society documentary, since the JBS rails against rich globalist elites.  Indeed, Trump’s final ad is being called anti-Semitic, since it shows some Jews and supposedly echoes anti-Semitic conspiracy theories about Jewish international bankers running the system for their own benefit.  One need not draw this conclusion, though, since Trump may just be railing against elites, as Bernie Sanders railed against elites.  Plus, in considering the question of whether Trump is anti-Semitic, I do think the fact that Trump’s own son-in-law (Ivanka’s husband) is an Orthodox Jew is important; Ivanka even converted to modern Orthodox Judaism before marrying Jared Kushner.  Some may think that counts for nothing, but I disagree.

(I should note that The John Birch Society long denied being anti-Semitic, stating that several members of the conspiracy that it was criticizing, such as the Rockefellers, were Gentiles.)

As a side-comment, here is a link to Pat Buchanan’s latest column, “What Hath Trump Wrought.”  According to Buchanan, even if Trump loses, the Republican Party will have to deal with Trump’s challenge against the establishment.  The GOP cannot return to the Bush dynasty or the usual establishment Republicans, after Trump has come in, swept the primaries, and continued to receive sizeable support notwithstanding his numerous gaffes and scandals.

B.  Here is the link to the Hillary ad, entitled “Roar.”  The music is awesome.  And, while the ad is about Hillary, it focuses more on what she wants to accomplish: students being debt free (that resonates with me!), and the health of the climate.

That is something I have liked about Hillary.  Although she has run a lot of anti-Trump ads, she has also offered a positive vision of what she wants to do.  I was watching her on TV last night, and I liked that she said that she wants to be the President of all Americans, both those who vote for her, and also those who do not vote for her.  Behind the scenes, who knows what shenanigans go on?  But, on the surface, at least, her campaign has been rather positive.

I said that these were the two best ads of the general election this year.  If we want to include the primaries, I think Bernie Sanders’ “America ad” is awesome!