Timing Is Everything: New Giuliani Ad May Benefit From Bhutto
Today Rudy Giuliani dropped a new presidential ad, in which he finally — and unsurprisingly — plays the 9/11 card. Giuliani leads with Sept. 11th, framing it in broader terms of America as a beacon of liberty through the world wars, the cold war, and the ultimate last stand against forces of evil. Here is the key graf, set against patriotic images from history — Iwo Jima, shuttle launching, firefighters at Ground Zero, general wartime flag-raising — all intercut with close-ups on Rudy's face, looking lined and weathered, but resolute:
So, the Islamic terrorists would make a terrible mistake if they confuse our democracy for weakness. Our democracy means we disagree with each other, but when you come and try and take away from us our freedom, when you try and come here and kill our people, we're one and we're going to stand up to you and we're going to prevail.
The ad frames Rudy as the candidate who understands what is at stake in the war on terror, the national security candidate who will stand up to those who would threaten the American way of life — and has. And what a day to launch it, as Benazir Bhutto is assassinated in Pakistan. Bhutto's assassination — likely by al Qaeda extremists — is global news today as Pakistan has erupted in response and suddenly that nation is coming back into focus as one hell of a global destabilizer. Suddenly, the focus on the campaign trail is back to national security — which just happens to be Rudy's extreme comfort zone. (No doubt Rudy has his fingers crossed for the type of bounce President Bush received in 2004 when the Osama bin Laden tape dropped days before the election.) The ad will air nationally on cable and in Florida and New Hampshire (note the absence of Iowa, which does not constitute a Giuliani comfort zone).
In addition to linking himself to 9/11 and standing up to terrorism, as is his wont, Giuliani re-frames the post-9/11 generation flatteringly as the descendants of the "Greatest Generation" of World War II (giving Tom Brokaw a nice blurb in the process). Here, Giuliani shoots the current war on terror through the loving, soft-focus lens of history, and makes fighting the war on terror about as American as apple pie. It's a deliberate construction, obviously, but in light of recent events it's one that will surely resonate differently now. Bet he's kicking himself for skipping Iowa.
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Huffington Post | Rachel Sklar | December 27, 2007 02:35 PM