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You might have enjoyed Asa's ad in a critical way for the purposes of this column, but here in Arkansas it has caused quite a backlash. While the Monster.com ad on which it was modelled was effective because it made the viewer think about these kids' dreams and futures as well as the viewer's own childhood aspirations, this one just shows that an unscrupulous politician can get kids to recite words and accusations they probably don't even understand for his own political benefit. All the Arkansas voters I've heard from (and many, many Democrat-Gazette letters page writers) thought it was an apalling display of political callousness, to put attacks in the mouths of babes, and Hutchinson pulled the ad not long after it debuted. But in the end it hurt him more than it helped, however well-made it might have been.
