"Asleep at the Switch" (proposed Kerry ad)

[scottxyz]

Here's a simple storyline for a possible Kerry ad, proposed by BillMon over at Whiskey Bar. (Note to Mods: I think BillMon allows stuff from his blog to be reposted in full.)

Asleep at the Switch

Fade from black to a somber John Kerry in a dark blue suit, standing in his Senate office in front of an American flag.

Kerry: Hi. I'm John Kerry, and I have approved this message. Fade to white.

Fade from white to footage of the twin towers, pre-9/11. Ominous Jaws-style soundtrack with a slow pulsing beat.

Voiceover: On September 11th, America was caught sleeping.

Lingering crossfade to footage of the Pentagon, pre-9/11.

Voiceover: Urgent warnings were ignored. Critical signals missed. And a vulnerable nation left undefended against an unspeakable threat.

Crosscut to a photo of a grinning Bush in the summer of 2001 -- on the golf course or kicking back on the ranch at Crawford. Pull in, ala Ken Burns, for a closeup of his smirking face.

Crossfade to newspaper-like headline: "Rumsfeld Rejects Counter-Terrorism Funds"

Voiceover: (slightly outraged tone) Just two days before the 9/11 attacks, President Bush's own defense secretary threatened to block efforts to spend an extra $600 million on the fight against terrorism. John Kerry supported that spending plan.

Cut to grainy, dark, low-color footage of Bush and Rumsfeld, walking side by side in slow motion. More pulsing, ominous music. Freeze frame.

Voiceover: While America slept, the terrorists were on the move. But the Bush administration was also asleep -- asleep at the switch.

Fade from white to an alert, decisive-looking John Kerry discussing a report with one of his aides, a map of the world in the background. Appropriately upbeat and urgent background music.

Voiceover: John Kerry understands the stakes in the war against terrorism. He knows America needs a better strategy, not just empty speeches and false promises.

Quick crossfade to a photo of Kerry on a podium with his band of brothers, hands joined in the air, behind a backdrop of American flags.

Voiceover: Elect John Kerry -- because America should never be caught sleeping again.

Fade to black

Voiceover: This message paid for by Kerry 2004 Committee

I mean, how hard is that?

http://billmon.org/archives/001243.html

[laruemtt]

1. i like it. i truly believe

this should be the cornerstone of the campaign. castrate *'s claim to be the answer to the war on terror. any response to this ad by * would be lame as h*ll. i also love that tbtm flash vid 'bush knew.' wish we could get air time for that one. it blows everybody away who sees it.

[KissMyAsscroft]

2. They are too cowardly to try it...

Dean would do it in a heartbeat if he were in Kerry's position.

It could "backfire"....(by "backfire" I mean the manufactured outrage by CNN, MsRNC, FOX, etc....)

Its really hard to tell how this would play out...

[wtf]

3. .

It's odd how timid democrats are about things like this, how scared we are about going on the offensive, but hey, maybe it's for the best, if we actually stood up and fought back, it could backfire, something unimaginable could happen, like we could lose the house, the senate, the presidency and a majority of the governorships.

</end frustrated sarcasm>

[patricia92243]

4. Politicizing 911 has not been so good for Bush. Quite frankly, I'd..

wait just a bit and see if those ads really hurt Bush before Kerry does more or less the same thing. This can be a real hot potato and we don't want to get burned.

If/when we feel it is "safe" to use that type ads, we might use something not quite so open to criticism by those families.

The same idea and words you had but maybe show planes headed toward Washington and Bush reading for 30 minutes after the attacks.

All good ideas, but in this case, we'd better err on the side of caution.