Commentary

It's Moron Again In America

by Joe Mandese , 7 hours ago

Where's the Tuesday Team when we need them? Apparently, their spirit is alive and kicking north of the border, because the province of Ontario channeled the words of our 40th President -- Ronald Reagan -- better than anyone has since Phil Dusenberry's 1984 "Morning Again In America" spot that solidified that year's reelection campaign.

Ontario's spot, which aired during the League Championship Series game between the Toronto Bluejays and The Seattle Mariners, was seen by an estimated 9 million TV viewers, but in the aftermath of No. 47's tirade/trade war, the current president huffed and puffed and called off negotiations with one of our largest trading partners, and arguably closest neighbor, all because they used Reagan's own words against Trump's chaotic tariffs policies.

You can hear Reagan's point-of-view criticizing tariffs in his own words from his 1987 speech on the subject thanks to a video from the Reagan Library below, or watch Ontario's TV spot using public domain footage from it above and be the judge yourself.

But for me, it was an elegant and poignant use of our original make America great again president's voice to trump the one who has been ripping him off for more than a decade now.

Or as Reagan might have said, "There he goes again."

The biggest irony of all, of course, is that thanks to Trump's hissy fit, many millions more have and will watch Ontario's Ronald Reagan tariffs policy ad on YouTube and from coverage like this.

advertising, government, politics, television

7 comments about "It's Moron Again In America".

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Dee Blohm from Anteriad, October 24, 2025 at 9:46 a.m.
Indeed! Thank you for sharing this and having the courage to write it. Keep it coming!
Reply

Andy Grossman from Augie Editorial Services, October 24, 2025 at 10:56 a.m.

Good job, Joe! Hard to believe Reagan would be considered a "moderate" Republican today.

Joshua Chasin from KnotSimpler, October 24, 2025 at 11:57 a.m.

This is the second best headline of the week!

The only one keeping you from the top spot was the New York Post's "Just Walk Away, Beret," in regrd to Curtis Sliwa and the NYC Mayoral race.

Joe Mandese from MediaPost Inc., October 24, 2025 at 12:02 p.m.

@Joshua Chasin: Tough to beat the NY Post. Thrilled to be a runner-up.

Andrew Susman from Institute for Advertising Ethics, October 24, 2025 at 12:41 p.m.

https://youtu.be/FErYyPMbllI

Joe Mandese from MediaPost Inc., October 24, 2025 at 1:17 p.m.

@Andrew Susman: I'm proud to say I broke the story that the Tuesday Team had created "There's A Bear In The Woods" spot, and got to interview Hal Riney after it broke. If he were updating it today, it would probably be more like, "There's an unbearable in the woods..."

Kenny Kurtz from Persuasion Marketing And Media, October 24, 2025 at 1:50 p.m.

Damn. The first presidential vote I cast as a 21 year old was for Reagan. Ditto on his re-election four years later. Hearing him allude to potentially needing help so Congress might be unable to pass legislation that go against his economic principles is so refreshing. Now, the imbecile that could never be 1/100th of the man, and leader that Reagan was sickens us all with his contempt for our Consititution. I miss Reagan, and many other statesmen that followed him, including some Democrats that earned my vote over the years. Trump, who I voted for in 2016 because I figured he couldn't be a worse bullshit artist, and scumbag than so many before him. But I was dead wrong. He is so much worse that the scale has been irrevocably broken.