Political ads can be downright scary these days. Between Donald Trump’s increasingly apocalyptic videos about his rival candidate’s alleged failures, and Hillary Clinton’s slow music videos of Trump’s critical views of women, US political ads seem like commercials for a movie you want to avoid.
But away from the jabs and snipes of the US presidential campaign, a light-hearted ad by a local Texan politician is restoring faith in politician’s videos.
“Gerald really doesn’t have any hobbies,” is the opening line of the ad that introduces Gerald Daugherty, a Republican who is seeking re-election as a Travis County Commissioner.
In the one-minute video, posted on Youtube earlier this month, Daugherty is portrayed as a family man who can’t stop talking about how to fix Travis County, which is in Southcentral Texas.
Daugherty geeks on about the county jail’s problems as he washes the dishes for his wife, and debates better transportation amidst mouthfuls of steak at the dinner table.
As his wife, Charlyn, puts it, “All he wants to do is fix things.”
The topics might seem boring, but the rare self-deprecating tone of the ad has made it go viral.
Its title — “Please Re-elect Gerald” — comes from Charlyn’s plea in the video (after her husband jabbers away at her as she folds the wash) and has become the calling card for Daugherty’s funny attempt at promoting himself.
Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton’s campaign managers might take note if this becomes a trend. Ads making people smile, instead of, say, raising panic about the opponent, appear to go down better with viewers.
As it is, the current trending US political ad — less than a month away from election day — is not by the leading contenders for The White House. Instead, it’s from a local politician who just wants to ‘fix things’ in Travis County, Texas.
