Advertising Age columnist Ken Wheaton reviews Rudy Giuliani's first television spot. The review is positive! Here's Wheaton:
Solid effort. [Giuliani] does a number of key things:
He embraces the fact he's from New York while pointing out the common perception held by many Red Staters - it was, indeed, a hellhole.
That of course, lets him brag about cleaning up the place, which made New York a little bit like the rest of the country.
He does all this without mentioning 9/11.
He makes another obvious point, but one often overlooked by candidates. He says he's not perfect.
Wheaton's third point - that nowhere in the ad does Giuliani mention September 11, 2001 - is key. Here's a prediction: When Giuliani does put up a television spot that mentions 9/11, a political firestorm will break out.
