There is only one reason why you run an ad as nasty, misleading, and outrageous as this:
You don’t run this ad to convince conservatives.
You don’t run this ad to convince independents.
You certainly don’t run this ad to convince moderates.
You run this ad if you’re trying to convince progressives.
The Roanoke Times editorial in the aftermath of the violence in Charlottesville was crystal clear in its analysis:
Gillespie himself has said and done exactly the right things here. Vote against Gillespie because of his views on tax policy, if you want, but don’t vote against him because of anything related to Charlottesville. He and Northam are on the same side here.
For those who are listeners to the Coy Barefoot Radio Program’s Monday Roundtable? How many weeks did we all pound the table warning folks about the Alt-Right, condemning the Alt-Right, exploring what the Alt-Right was — an evil that could stand on their own two feet with ties to Russian disinformation campaigns and a taste for violence?
President Trump’s handling of the aftermath of the events in Charlottesville can be debated. Ed Gillespie’s handling cannot — and this ad piece only doubles down on a vicious slander and a cheapening of political discourse, owned by Ralph Northam and made amazing solely by the fact that he achieved it during the era of Trump.
These are the tactics one might expect from Steve Bannon. Not from those who claim to honor the Virginia Way.
UPDATE: The Richmond Times-Dispatch is letting the Northam campaign hear it loud and clear for their rank hypocrisy:
After crying foul for weeks over the severity of Republican gubernatorial nominee Ed Gillespie’s attack ads, Virginia Democrats have responded with a harsh mailer of their own that connects Gillespie and President Donald Trump to the string of white nationalist rallies in Charlottesville.
We often speak of the pornography of violence and the exploitation of tragedy, and why it is the ultimate sign of desperation in a campaign when candidates reach for the hyperbolic.
No doubt, Democrats will point towards Gillespie’s MS-13 ads criticizing Northam’s willy-nilly vote in favor of sanctuary cities. Yet between ads comparing Republican HOD candidates to animals and serial killers and now this slick piece? Desperation like this hasn’t been seen since Kilgore’s 2005 Hitler ads.
Riefenstahl is the word that comes to mind…
