Negative ads: Everybody hates them, nobody admits to watching them, and they’re considered by reasonable people everywhere to be everything that’s wrong with politics today.
Whatever.
Nothing is better than a good negative ad. I especially like the Stan Shore produced ad, nicknamed “Drowning Dow”:
It’s good: Punchy narration, recognizable characters, not overloaded with infomation, and a factual accuracy that doesn’t get in the way of the story being told.
Then there’s the new Anti-McGinn ad from his opponent, Joe Mallahan. It’s filled with charges that are sure to come up in tonight’s debate:
Do I like it? Hmm… Not so much. Odd sound choices abound: The needle-across-the-record? I’ve seen it used better. The weepy violin? Low-rent and not convincing. I usually like Kelly Akers’ videos, but he’s at his best when he’s getting strongarmed by the cops.
Perhaps the ad I’m most conflicted about is the Moxie Media-produced anti-Hutchison clip:
Wow! Fast-paced, loud colors, snarky as all get out, this one is an in-your-face roller coaster of negative campaign-ad excitement. It even brings back some of our old favorites (Bush and Cheney). Perhaps my favorite is the big red “line and circle” through the two jogging women, which is meant to represent Hutchison’s unwillingness to tell the Women’s Jogging Council of Greater Seattle what she really thinks on the issue of jogging. Or abortion. I’m not really sure, and I was distracted by the colors.