Hillary Clinton’s campaign announced today that a third television commercial will be added to the mix in an extensive five-week advertising buy in Iowa and New Hampshire. Bleeding Heartland covered the first two Clinton ads here. After the jump I’ve enclosed the video of the new commercial, along with an annotated transcript.
The Clinton campaign’s press release noted, “The ad’s message echoes a major theme of Clinton’s campaign. In a key policy speech delivered last month in New York, Clinton declared that increasing middle-class incomes was the defining economic challenge of our time, and would be her chief pursuit as president.” You can watch clips from that speech here or read a summary of its proposals here. Eduardo Porter concluded that several of Clinton’s ideas “have a solid track record of research on their side,” but the package would not be enough to compensate for social insurance policies that put the U.S. “behind the community of advanced nations in building a society that could cope with the harsh new global economy.”
Clinton used similar language about the deck being stacked against working Americans during her speech to last Friday’s Wing Ding in Clear Lake. Click here to read the full transcript of that speech.
The new commercial strikes me as another strong effort, but I still feel that if a campaign has $2 million to spend on tv ads in August before the election year, they should be paying their full-time interns. Incidentally, I was impressed by the passionate, committed Clinton “fellows” I met before the Wing Ding.
New 30-second ad “Reshuffle”:
Hillary Clinton: When you see that you’ve got CEOs making 300 times what the average worker’s making you know the deck is stacked in favor of those at the top. [viewer sees Clinton on camera, speaking to someone off-screen; then footage of factory workers]
Clinton: I want it to be back where it was when I came of age. Where my mom who never got to go to college could see her daughter go to law school. [viewer sees Clinton on camera again, then black and white family photo from when she was a little girl, then black and white photo of her graduating from law school]
Clinton: We need to have people believing that their work will be rewarded. [Clinton on camera again]
So I’m going to be doing everything I can to try to get that deck reshuffled so being middle class means something again. [viewer sees footage of candidate shaking hands, talking and walking with, standing next to smiling voters; view shifts back to Clinton on camera for final words “being middle class means something again.”
Clinton’s voice: I’m Hillary Clinton, and I approved this message. [viewer sees Clinton shaking hands with a worker, sitting at a small roundtable; campaign logo, website HillaryClinton.com, Facebook and Twitter symbols, paid-for message near bottom of screen]