Commentary

Clinton Spot Says Trump Is Coarsening America, But That Ship Has Sailed

In Philadelphia over this past weekend, the political commercials on TV were wall-to-wall. That’s the “reward” (dubiously speaking) one gets for visiting the biggest television market in a swing state just days before an election -- especially one as hotly contested as Pennsylvania.

Since I wasn’t in New York over the weekend, I can only guess the load of political spots on television was somewhat less than the tonnage seen on the Philadelphia stations, since New York state is not considered a swing state on par with the Keystone State.

TV viewers in both markets -- New York and Philadelphia -- are seeing spots for local and state races in these final days, but in Philadelphia, the importance of the region to the two presidential contenders is unmistakable, judging by the frequency of the presidential campaign spots.

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On that score, the Clinton campaign appeared to have a distinct edge. All weekend long, the repetition was staggering, particularly with regard to the spot featuring the impressionable kiddies whose innocence has apparently been shattered by the televised utterings of Donald Trump. That’s the message of this spot (from which the image above was made).

This is the one where these children are seen with sad, open-mouthed expressions indicating their shock over what they are hearing Trump say on TV. Footage is then shown of Trump in various TV appearances in which he seems to use the f-word (it’s bleeped), appears to make fun of someone with a handicap, makes the infamous “bleeding” remark about Megyn Kelly, and also says something about shooting someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue (context unshown).

That Trump -- he sure says the darndest things!

The message of the spot is, in part, “Our children are watching.” The point is supposed to be that if the country elects Trump, our childrens’ innocence is at stake. This is presumably because Trump, at least as he is positioned in this spot, is the embodiment of a coarse, rough-edged, profane world we must to do our best to shield America’s children from.

I saw this spot so many times on TV in Philadelphia on Saturday and Sunday that naturally I became sick and tired of it. And when one begins to feel that way about a commercial (or TV show or anything, for that matter), you begin to pick it apart.

For openers, I wondered, why were these unsupervised children watching Trump giving speeches in the first place? If they are really so precocious that they watch CNN, Fox News or C-Span regularly enough to catch the most notorious speeches of Donald Trump from the past year-and-a-half, then they should be smart enough to digest what he says and not necessarily conclude that it’s alright for them to say the same things.

Besides, many children have been brought up to recognize right from wrong. Who is to say all kids will be marred somehow by what they hear Donald Trump say?

But the question that occurred to me most often when contemplating this spot was this: Who is she kidding? If Hillary Clinton thinks America’s children can be shielded from the coarser side of life by denying Donald Trump the presidency, then she must live in a dream world.

Does she even live in the same culture as the rest of us? Here in Real World, U.S.A., the coarsening of our culture has already happened, and expands every day. Our entertainment media, whose support Hillary Clinton enjoys, is the source of much of it -- the violence in movies, TV shows and video games (all consumed by children, by the way), sex and misogyny in all of the aforementioned plus the lyrics of pop songs and rap music, and, of course, profanity everywhere.

And then there’s the Internet with all the great wholesome content it has available for the children in the Clinton commercial after they get tired of listening to the speeches of Donald J. Trump.

Trump uttering a bleeped f-word? On what planet is this going to shock an impressionable youngster? Not in 2016 on planet Earth -- especially here in America.

3 comments about "Clinton Spot Says Trump Is Coarsening America, But That Ship Has Sailed".
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  1. Rick Thomas from MediaRich Marketing, November 7, 2016 at 2:39 p.m.

    Hmmm...most parents I know generally tend to keep their kids away from this television mess rather than putting them in front of the "idiot box" as my father called it too many times growing up.  Seems to me that even if kids hear such crap from our so called leaders that it's best to keep them away from the plethora of such language so that they at some point don't use such verbiage in front of or toward one of their teachers.

    Just a thought.

  2. Janice W. Summers from Charlie Company, November 7, 2016 at 2:50 p.m.

    Wow.  You are way off in your line of thinking.  You think that because the internet, social media, music and video games are an excuse for the behavior of a person running for President??  That is no excuse for the behavior of Donald and his followers.  Because there's sex, misogyny, profanity and violence on TV, music and social media, that makes it OK for someone running for President to act this way?  This is the HIGHEST office and needs utmost professionalism.  Why does Donald get the free pass to disrespect the office of the Presidency and his fellow Americans?  Up until this election, both parties kept things fairly civil and professional.  We're in new territory here and I hope to never see it repeated again.  Do you think the crap that Donald is spewing is going to go over well with our government and international leaders? The President is someone to whom all Americans, especially children, should be able to look to for real leadership and to learn how to act with responsibility and seriousness.  Instead, Donald has brought gutter mouth, misogyny, racism, hatred, etc, to the forefront of the nation. Yes, children, should be able to watch the news without parental supervision.  I did when I was a kid because that is what I was interested in - learning about the world around me.  To say that kids should just know that what he is saying is wrong and not to do the same?  So it's OK for a potential President to talk in a way that would get anyone else fired from their jobs?  How you can rationalize this is beyond me.

  3. Michael Pursel from Pursel Advertising, November 7, 2016 at 5:03 p.m.

    Yah, that Trump and the things that come out of his mouth that he should shut.  Right?  That is why I'm so uplifted by Michelle Obama telling me that a pillar of our community, Beyonce' is a fine upstanding role model for her girls and of course for ALL young women.  Keep grinding, twerking and showing it all B. And those lyrics?  Why Jay-Z would be proud too.  Oh, did I mention J has been in the White House too?  I'm going to make sure my grandkids watch all of their videos so my kids can be role models too when they grow up.  Stay tunes all you B***chs and H*es

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