Being in Harmony

Been a long time between posts, part of that is the season, part of that is the lack of things to post about, part of that is I've moved a lot of quick hits over to Twitter, where I usually post a few times a week if not a day. What would I do without Rahm?  Wait for superbowl ads I guess. Another ad for the former congressman, turned White House chief of staff, turned candidate for Chicago Mayor.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hZjZYgxC8M]

Pretty standard stuff, a couple of things jumped out at me:

• It was a contrast in tones, the music and images serve to contrast a pretty tough on crime message. It seems like a deliberate effort to 'tone' down the image of Rahm as a firebrand, but allow him to appear tough and passionate without the histrionics. The danger is if this isn't the real Rahm, that the effort appears as manipulative.  I don't think that is the case, but it is something I'd worry about.
• The line "These gangbanger... don't own the streets..." is at once awkward and power.  Don't hear the word gangbangers tossed around in elections too much these days.
• Mentioning Clinton, the entire ad seems aimed at lower income and minority communities where the former President is still extremely popular.  Is this the campaign's attempt to hold off the challenge of Carol Mosely Braun?
• The choice of crime is an interested one, and a further one that makes me think this spot is targeted to a particular audience. Even so, there must have been some strong polling out there because crime is a particularly rare issue these days (terrorism yes, street crime not so much).

So overall this ad is alright, doesn't stand out, and isn't as good as the first one which is the best of the bunch.  It appears to be serving a tactical purpose, but at least at seems to be matching the tone of the others even when taking on an issue that often has a harsher tone than they've shown so far.