Sanders New Ad ‘America’ Praised For Being ‘Warm,’ Panned For Being ‘Very White’

A new ad featuring Simon and Garfunkel is being both praised and panned. 

A new Bernie Sanders ad released Thursday is being lauded as a breath of fresh air in an increasingly hostile political climate, and panned for what some are saying is a glaring lack of diversity. The 60-second spot, “America,” features the familiar Simon and Garfunkel 1968 hit by the the same name.

The Sanders campaign posted the video to YouTube, and on Twitter wrote, “This campaign is not about Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, or Donald Trump. This campaign is about you.”

The New York Times wrote that the ad “seeks to remind his supporters how far he, and they, have come — and to inspire them anew to caucus for him on Feb. 1.” Calling the ad’s message “hope and inclusiveness,” it says “the ad takes the microphone out of the candidate’s hand and turns it around: His campaign, it signals, is about the people who are supporting him.”

“Minorities are given prominence, presumably to address Mr. Sanders’s difficulties in attracting support among blacks and Hispanics,” the Times notes.

But some are taking issue with that claim, including prominent New York Times opinion writer Charles M. Blow, who took to Twitter to share his thoughts:

Calling it “very powerful,” Matthew Yglesias at Vox writes, “the striking thing about this ad, as Jamelle Bouie hints, is that especially for a Democrat it’s very white.”

“There are a handful of nonwhite faces, but you are looking overwhelmingly at white people often in very white settings like northern New England. The soundtrack is very white.”

The “hint” is a tweet Bouie posted, saying, “This is a very good add that also highlights the problem Sanders has to solve to win.”

David A. Graham at The Atlantic calls it “extremely positive” and “a pretty great spot, with lots of warm fuzzies,” but says, “ it’s hard not to notice how white the ad is—I counted perhaps half a dozen people of color in the spot.”

The images and messaging in an ad like this are never accidental, so let’s try to parse out what they mean. First, the ad is extremely positive—it’s all smiling faces and happy children, hardworking farmers and cheering crowds. That matches with Sanders’s vow, mostly kept, to run a positive campaign. Second, the ad is heavily steeped in classic Americana. In particular, the ad leans on rural imagery, fitting with it primary audience Iowa and New Hampshire. The message might also blunt the attempt by some allies of Hillary Clinton to tar Sanders as a socialist. See, look? He’s as American as mom and apple pie.

Others on Twitter shared similar feelings:

Again, here’s the ad. What do you think?

 

Image: Screenshot via Bernie 2016/YouTube