Changing The Tone

Yuval Levin doesn't like McCain's "tolerance" ad any more than I did, but Andrew begs to differ:

It's an encouraging sign that McCain is not going to pull a Rove this fall; it's a deft way of dealing with racial difference - check out the number of African-Americans in the ad - and it co-opts the "Goodbye To All That" appeal of Obama. A bit syrupy - and McCain doesn't always live up to its message. But it suggests to me that McCain has figured out the public mood. And sees himself as a unifying father-figure. That's shrewd and encouraging.

Just to be clear: I don't dislike the message of the ad, necessarily. I think McCain can and should promise (as a certain Texas Governor did, once upon a time) to "change the tone" in Washington, and I think his record as a bipartisan bridge-builder will be crucial to his campaign. I just think the ad itself is terrible - bloated, meandering and deadly dull, a soporific civics lecture delivered in a medium that rewards brevity, energy, and wit. Keep the message, by all means, but lose the packaging.

Comments

It might be helpful to note that "tolerance" no longer has just its dictionary meaning. That word is like "hate" in that way. So, for instance, the CenterforAmericanProgress refers to right-wing talkradio as "hate radio", and various groups use complaints about "hate" to hide the fact that they're supporting illegal activity.

Here's the UN using the word "tolerance": lonewacko.com/blog/archives/005892.html

And, here's another group using it as a cover for support for illegal activity:
lonewacko.com/blog/archives/004564.html

I'm sure others can provide many other examples.

The bottom line is that, whatever he thinks he's trying to get at, McCain is playing on the far-left's field under their fixed rules and somehow he's expecting it to work out OK.

Posted by TLB | April 9, 2008 11:41 PM

What I saw it was too slow and long. Some criticized it for lacking substance, but on consideration that might be unfair because ads generally lack substance. Even when they seem to have substance there's usually less there than it appears. (And that's not that great of an insult, how much substance can you really jam in a TV ad anyway?)

I don't think I disliked it as much as you though.

Posted by Thomas R | April 10, 2008 5:16 AM

I'm fairly certain that the script for the ad is an excerpt from McCain's speech at Liberty a couple years back. So not a lot of effort was put into "packaging" for this medium because it was lifted from another medium entirely.

I am a Democrat, but I think McCain's Liberty speech was a fine one and urge others who trash him for daring to accept a Falwell invite to actually find out what he said when he accepted the invite.

Posted by RS | April 10, 2008 3:57 PM