Viral McConnell Ad Seeks to Inspire Conservatives
The Republican party is full of rebranding efforts these days. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor has his. And the NRSC is working on appealing to the young and hip with their Buzzfeed-style website.
Now there's Sen. Mitch McConnell, the top Republican in the Senate, whose campaign is out with a new web video that splices inspirational lines from McConnell speeches and argues that the GOP is the party of opportunity for minorities and immigrants. But the video also has a decidedly Tea Party feel at times. It has gotten more than a million views in a day.
Produced by Lucas Baiano, the political auteur who produced videos during the 2012 for Tim Pawlenty, Rick Perry and Mitt Romney, the video, which is called "The American Ideal", has the feel of a trailer for a movie by Michael Bay.
"We are the party of compassion," says McConnell at one point. "We are the party of immigrants. We are the party of hard-working taxpayers. We are party of mobility, opportunity, growth, life, liberty, optimism and innovation."
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But then it also pays tribute to some buzzwords important to the Tea Party.
"…the founders… They taught us by example that this experiment in self-government would endure if courageous men and women continued to defend it."
McConnell goes on: "…freedom in all of its varieties. These things never lose their worth or their power to motivate and to inspire. Society may change, demographics may shift, but the principles that make up a free and prosperous society never do. And conservatives we own these principles. We own them."
It's not exactly political web video season, but the video appears to be part of McConnell's effort to make sure there's not much of a campaign against him. The Midterm elections don't occur until November of 2014. There's not even anyone running against Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell, the top Republican in the Senate.
And McConnell has done his best to make it clear to potential rivals on both sides of the political aisle that he's not to be trifled with.
The campaign had salivated at the prospect of running against Ashley Judd, the Hollywood actress who ultimately decided not to run. An audio tape made by a liberal group caught McConnell's campaign discussing how they'd run against Judd.