Thinking ahead to 2008

Cliff Thier is looking ahead to the possibility that the 2008 election will see Hillary and Rudy competing against each other in the White House.  With that in mind, he’s come up with a great idea for a campaign commercial.

Aside from liking the idea, I think it’s incredibly important to start thinking about political commercials as soon as possible.  Republicans and others have some great old media moments that live on in Democratic memory as moments of infamy:  Morning in America, Willie Horton, Harry and Louise, etc. I think, however, that the Democrats have a stronger grasp of the new media, coming up with funny, catchy internet/YouTube style political ads that easily go viral.  The Republicans seem mired in the “sit in a golden glow with family” ad, which is very static.  I don’t believe we should jettison these ads, because they are important to appeal to a demographic that doesn’t belong to the “short attention span theater” generation, but Republicans need to move beyond that and make hard hitting, fast paced, visceral, viral ads.