November 5, 2016

Is Donald Trump's "huge ad buy — 2 minutes long" terrifying CNN?

I noticed this at Memeorandum:



"Donald Trump has huge ad buy - 2 minutes long — Donald Trump is trying something unconventional in the final stretch: a two-minute-long TV ad. — The campaign says it is spending $4 million to buy time for the ad in nine battleground states and on nationally televised shows."

That caught my eye, because it's CNN straightforwardly crediting the Trump campaign with a big and unusual move that could turn out to be quite clever.

Here's the ad (or what I think is the ad (maybe I'm just being tricked into propagating an ad and there's some other ad)):



But look at the CNN headline now: "Trump and Clinton prep long final ads."

Trump's not doing anything special. Both campaigns are just boringly doing the same thing — long ads.

Let's read the text and see whether Trump is doing something special — "huge" and "unconventional" — or just proceeding alongside his opponent in a boring nothing-to-see-here fashion.

Wait. Before reading the text, I realize that the first characterization is the one that makes you think I'd better check out that ad and the second version makes you think blah, more ads, leave me alone. So my hypothesis is that CNN changed the headline to keep readers from wanting to see that ad — either right away, on the web, or when it comes up as they're watching TV over the weekend. Oh, there's that Trump ad everyone's talking about.

Reading the text, I see it supports the older headline:
Donald Trump is trying something unconventional in the final stretch: a two-minute-long TV ad.

The campaign says it is spending $4 million to buy time for the ad in nine battleground states and on nationally televised shows. TV ads are usually 30 seconds long, so Trump is trying to stand out by buying longer blocks of time and placing the ads during Saturday college football games, Sunday NFL games, and tentpole shows like "The Voice."

The idea is that the uncommonly long ads will stand out from the noise.
The article is almost entirely about Trump's ad and its placement. And the accompanying TV clip, from Wolf Blitzer's CNN show, is only about the Trump ad. But there's also this about a Clinton ad:
A Clinton campaign spokesman said Clinton also has a two-minute ad in the works. It is scheduled to also air on Monday night on "The Voice." It will also be seen on CBS, which has the new sitcom "Kevin Can Wait." The election eve ad time was reserved by Clinton's campaign on Thursday.
That's not an equivalent big ad buy, just 2 airings of an ad yet to come. It's enough to make the new headline not entirely ridiculous, but I think the headline was rewritten to dampen interest in the story and the ad.

What did I think of the ad? It successfully portrays Hillary Clinton as the embodiment of the establishment, the establishment as the evil oppressor that must be overthrown, and Donald Trump as the embodiment of change, change that is needed. Within that ad, both candidates are symbols, not human beings. Don't think too much about Trump, the person, or Hillary, the person: Think about the big ideas.

The Hillary campaign has been stressing Trump, the person. He's a terrible man. Trump has called Hillary "a nasty woman," but his closing argument is not personal. I haven't seen Hillary's closing argument, but ad that I've seen in the last week on TV here in Wisconsin is this old one (from last July) that harps piano-chords on Trump's personal ugliness:

58 comments:

AllenS said...

Trump's ad was right on target. It will be money well spent.

shiloh said...

Althouse very little changes the last two wks of a presidential campaign as most voters have already tuned the irrelevant, ad nauseam minutiae out.

If you're still undecided at this time it's very likely you won't vote.

shiloh said...

but, but, but ~ keep hope alive!

shiloh said...

"maybe I'm just being tricked into propagating an ad and there's some other ad"

Well, you have demonstrated recently and (4) years ago just before the election and on election day that you are easily fooled! Soooo ...

CStanley said...

I found Trump's ad cold but I know it was probably the right closing argument for skeptics like myself. I wish there could be a positive argument for Trump but I wouldn't have been persuadable in that way.

tim in vermont said...

Pretty funny that Hillary, who has her whole life ridden on the coattails of a husband the forcible rapist and serial sexual harasser, and who, it has just been discovered, has entrusted tens of thousands of her official emails to the laptop of notorious pervert, and likely pedophile, Anthony Weiner, has the complete lack of self-awareness to make an ad about how Trump is worse for "the children."

I wonder when she will finally have enough money?

Clyde said...

Excellent ad. The corrupt establishment and their lackeys won't like it, but it appeals to the rest of us.

tim in vermont said...

very little changes the last two wks of a presidential campaign

Keep hope alive! Clinton's last hope is that all of the money and in-kind contributions her billionaire backers have provided will drag her rotting corpse across the finish line. It could happen.

tim in vermont said...

Imagine how her speaking fees will drop if she loses. Poor girl. She will have to wear a coat with big pockets next time she goes to a big feed put on by one of her billionaire friend, who will invite her out of pity.

dbp said...

I disagree with Trump on free trade and yet I found myself emotionally drawn to the ad. I think it is going to be very effective.

tim in vermont said...

Renowned statistician Nate Silver warned Friday that new polling could indicate trouble for Hillary Clinton as the 2016 race for the White House enters its final days.“There’s been a potential breach of Hillary Clinton’s electoral firewall,” Silver wrote on his data-journalism publication, FiveThirtyEight.

God has spoken!

traditionalguy said...

Trump's idea that a vote in their best interest by an informed and united people that Dems have proven over and over are worthless chumps that will fall for mass lies every election season is a bloody revolution.

But then, electing her and Kaine is actually the election of Kaine. And Kaine is such a nice person. He makes us feel good, unlike that Jerk I and that Jerk II from Indiana.

Is it too late to elect Kellyann Conway?

fivewheels said...

Well, Scott Adams thinks highly of the ad, but it didn't really move the needle for me. But I'm probably not the target audience. I don't know if it needed to be that long to deliver that message. Seemed repetitive.

I can't even imagine what a two-minute Clinton ad would contain, though. Her only argument is that she's a woman (also that Trump's the narcissist, but you all must help HER make history so SHE can be the first woman president) and you can articulate that in five seconds.

Clyde said...

And what the renowned statistician says may reverberate... So to speak.

Ann Althouse said...

"If you're still undecided at this time it's very likely you won't vote."

Oh, I'm definitely going to the polls on Tuesday. Even if I have to leave the top line blank, I'm going to vote.

Rusty said...

Ann Althouse said...
"If you're still undecided at this time it's very likely you won't vote."

"Oh, I'm definitely going to the polls on Tuesday. Even if I have to leave the top line blank, I'm going to vote."

Only once though, OK?

Rusty said...

Blogger shiloh said...
but, but, but ~ keep hope alive!

COLORADO: TIED
MICHIGAN: TIED
NEW HAMPSHIRE: TIED
NEVADA: TIED
PENNSYLVANIA: TIED

OK.

John henry said...

Not quite on topic but we got a nice November surprise yesterday. I was not surprised that it happened. I am surprised it happened Friday instead of Wednesday. Perhaps Katie Johnson's patent attorney read the news about the Rolling Stone suit.

Turns out that Katie Johnson lied about her name as well as her address in the first filing in California (dismissed). So now, filed 3 times, dismissed 3 times.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3894806/Woman-alleged-raped-Donald-Trump-13-Jeffrey-Epstein-sex-party-DROPS-case-casting-doubt-truth-claims.html

Shame we have to read about it in a British newspaper. Nothing about it in an 8AM search of the NY Times or WaPo.

John Henry

dreams said...

I think all the momentum is with Trump and he will win. Of course, that's what I want to happen, We'll see.

John henry said...

Re the ad, I saw it last night and think it is just right.

John Henry

tim in vermont said...

COLORADO: TIED
MICHIGAN: TIED
NEW HAMPSHIRE: TIED
NEVADA: TIED
PENNSYLVANIA: TIED


Any anybody with any knowledge of statistics knows that these aren't like independent coin tosses. They are linked more like dice loaded in the same way, it won't take a lot to move it one way or another and those states will likely move in unison.

tim in vermont said...

Except PA, which will yield to Democrat vote fraud, whatever the polls say, again this time.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

I'm surprised that $4 million is considered a yuge ad buy.

dreams said...

"I disagree with Trump on free trade and yet I found myself emotionally drawn to the ad. I think it is going to be very effective."

Arthur Laffer, the supply-side economist and Larry Kudlow, also an economist like Trump and keep in mind that Trump is a businessman, he isn't anti-business but he thinks we can make better trade deals. He says he will have people with real world business experience negotiate our trade deals and running as a Republican, he will appoint better people than Hillary will if she is elected.

Hagar said...

I have seen the Hillary! ad, and it made me think of the kids watching a Beyonce or Miley Cyrus performance on primetime TV.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Hillary hides behind children. Typical.

From the Trump ad "The only thing that can stop this corrupt machine.... is you."

That's good.

dreams said...

"Except PA, which will yield to Democrat vote fraud, whatever the polls say, again this time."

The crooked Dems have honed their election stealing skills over the years and being the determined ruthless crooks that they are and not to forget their accomplices in the crooked media, I don't expect them to give up even if Trump wins on election day, unless he wins big.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

CNN is one giant ad campaign for HER.

dreams said...

"Hillary hides behind children. Typical."

She won't be able to fight for the children in prison.

dreams said...

We had better win in a landslide because its not over until the crooked Dems and the crooked media say its over.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Voter fraud in PA - they cannot stop it.

Democrats are fine with it, because all vote fraud goes their way.

Mark said...

Hillary has always been about "us vs. them." Even her talks about unity are voiced in terms of "us" uniting to take on "them." She has always been about demonizing others, about how bad and evil "they" are, never bothering to ever explain how and in what way she is good -- her being good and smart and pure and universally loved are just givens. People are supposed to see her and her ascendancy as simply the way of things, the default position that everyone has, because she is inherently an "us." She does not need to explain herself.

Meanwhile, there are people who know that she is thoroughly and pathologically corrupt, that she constantly obfuscates, spins, distorts, lies, even when the lies are pointless and serve little purpose, and she sees things like rules and laws beneath her -- all the while projecting these attributes about herself onto her opponents, which is not only an attack on them, it justifies her own acting that way -- and that she has this lust and greed for power and money and control and the adulation of others.

There are people who know this about Hillary -- and know that past being prologue that she will be exactly like this for the next four years if elected -- and still these people think and say things like, "I don't know how I'm going to vote."

SteveBrooklineMA said...

Obama had a very effective 30 minute ad at the end of his first presidential campaign. Remember it?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMya3NvaBrE

Mark said...

If you're still undecided at this time it's very likely you won't vote

If you're still undecided at this time, if you still do not see the existential imperative of ending Hillary and Clintonism once and for all, it's very likely you would be content with a President Hillary and her corrosive tactics, if not looking for a way to justify voting for her.

Quayle said...

Does Hillary think the children weren't watching when the talk was all about about certain events in the oval office, including cigars and semen stained dresses?

Mark said...

If you're still undecided at this time . . . it's very likely you would be content with a President Hillary and her corrosive tactics, if not looking for a way to justify voting for her

I protest! I don't like Hillary and I know that she is corrupt. Just because I'm undecided doesn't mean that I want her elected or would be OK with her as president!"

Then what are you going to do to stop her??

Complain about her? Because that ain't doing to do it. There is only ONE thing at this point that could be done to stop her and that is to cast a ballot for the only other person who could possibly be elected, however distasteful that act might be.

He may be a buffoon, but there is no equivalency of evil here. So, again, if you really do not want Hillary, what are you going to do to stop her?

traditionalguy said...

Seriously, Trump should pull that ad and just run the part of last night's Hershey, Pa, rally with Riley Rone's mother.

Clayton Hennesey said...

Hillary indisputably broke national security law, Comey's legally irrelevant comments notwithstanding. The law is easy to read and Clinton's violations of it are public record.

An analogy might be observing an uninvited penis in a woman's vagina and hearing a law enforcement authority claim no evidence of intent. Regardless that the penis is clearly in the vagina, uninvited, and the woman claims overtly she did not invite it, perhaps its presence there is merely accidental. Perhaps it fell in.

Crimes only become crimes, therefore, if law enforcement recognizes them as crimes and prosecutors prosecute them as crimes. Otherwise they are merely curiosities of nature.

There are obviously a number of people explicitly okay with these scenarios, half the nation if polling is to be believed.

Michael K said...

"on election day that you are easily fooled! Soooo ..."

She did vote for Obama so you do have a point.

I was in Phoenix the last two days and Hillary ads ran every five minutes on Fox Thursday night. Every five minutes and Kaine was in town.

Kaine, by the way, is not a "nice guy." He is a Sandanista.

Roy Lofquist said...

...of the people, by the people, for the people...

The director's cut of the Gettysburg Address.

shiloh said...

"Oh, I'm definitely going to the polls on Tuesday. Even if I have to leave the top line blank, I'm going to vote."

Althouse, seriously enough with your dog and pony show as you already made your decision. You just don't want to endure the wrath of your con minions when you tell them Hillary's your gal.

Indeed, say it loud and say it proud ~ I'm with her!

dreams said...


"Althouse, seriously enough with your dog and pony show as you already made your decision. You just don't want to endure the wrath of your con minions when you tell them Hillary's your gal.

Indeed, say it loud and say it proud ~ I'm with her!"

The difference is Althouse can't deny that Hillary is a crook whereas you don't care.

320Busdriver said...

Reading Sabato's Crystal Ball this morning tells me that if there is a Trump win on Tuesday it will be a surprise. He does have Trump in a better position relative to Romneys final EC tally, but without a clear path to the 56 extra votes needed.

Ignore the crystall ball at your own risk. I hope he's wrong this time.

Howard said...

Take away the reference to illegal immigrants and the 2-minute Trump ad could be used by Bernie Sanders

Howard said...

Hillary wasn't riding Bills coattails... she was the heartless ambition driving him forward. Given her Nixonian people skilz, she used the exposure to create a persona that could garner enough votes to be elected to the senate.

tim in vermont said...

Lady MacBeth? MacBeth still did all the wet work.

Unknown said...

I have said this to the radio guy from Wisconsin (Sykes) and I say it now to Professor Althouse: if Trump does not win, I pray that your neighborhood turns into another Bradford, Yorkshire. Soon and fast. Under Hillary it will. Not a question of if, but when. Don't think it cannot happen in your lifetime. Living in your cocoon you may imagine you are insulated. That is an illusion.

grimson said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
grimson said...

I went to read Scott Adams' take on the ad, and clicked on the link there to view the ad. The link goes to YouTube, which states "This video is unlisted. Be considerate and think twice before sharing." Are you kidding me.

mockturtle said...

I watched Trump's speech in Florida this morning. At one point he asked the yuuuuge crowd how many had already voted. The estimation was about 80%. It's hard for me to believe that there are many undecided voters at this point.

M Jordan said...

The ad surprised me because it is simply Trump in a speech with pictures of Americans. No girl picking daisies, no mushroom cloud, no clever twist. But I think the clever twist was Trump sounded so reasonable and he presented a case that is right. His speech delivery was quite amazing. As a public speaker myself, I know how difficult it is to even read words without stumbling. I read Scott Adams' breakdown and he basically agreed with me. :)

I do wonder what these last 3 days will bring. I sense a wave building just as it did in Reagan's final weekend. That one saw a 7-point move to Reagan. The LA Times poll this morning shows graphically such a wave for Trump.

mockturtle said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Yancey Ward said...

The ad is really effective because it plays on the things a majority of the country actually agrees on- that the US is on the wrong track, that D.C. is a swamp of corruption, and that the media reporting it all are total whores.

That Youtube is trying to censor it isn't surprising, but in doing so, they simply make it more effective.

Captain Drano said...

This homemade Trump vid is really good, it uses Bernie's ad music and has the Bern endorsing Trump at the end. https://t.co/ZuQRSzDKVd

Bad Lieutenant said...

AprilApple said...
Voter fraud in PA - they cannot stop it.

Democrats are fine with it, because all vote fraud goes their way.
11/5/16, 8:37 AM

I posted this on another thread. IMHO, worth analysis by Ann in its own thread.

Bad Lieutenant said...

Dr. Jill Stein herself has endorsed Trump. Robert Cook should be thinking.

mockturtle said...

BL, I'm not sure Stein has actually endorsed Trump but I think she's saying he is a better choice than Hillary.

Bad Lieutenant said...

Something like that. Nonetheless it contradicts Cook's opinion that there's no difference and it comes from virtually the only authority he would seem to respect.