A few thoughts on that Tad Jude ad in Minnesota
I don’t know much about Tad Jude, who’s running for Minnesota secretary of state, but his latest campaign ad caught my attention. In fact, the ad is understandably receiving quite a bit of attention on social media. Perhaps, the contrast in tone with a very controversial and mean-spirited ad in the Ohio governor’s race makes it stand out all the more. Jude’s narrative ad has nostalgia, channeling the brilliant “Morning in America” ads produced by President Reagan’s reelection campaign in 1984.
But Jude’s spot is even more subtle and some might even say it is less political than Reagan’s reelection ads. I could see an argument for it being considered more political, but it’s not obvious. The brilliance is in the understated, while still getting to the heart of the matter.
We’ve talked a lot about the importance of a sense of place and what it means for self-government. Jude manages to do two things at once: remind Minnesotans of who they are while suggesting they never really needed the reminder in the first place. “This state belongs to you,” he says. “We never left. It’s time to come home, Minnesota.” A sense of place isn’t just about where we live or where we come from. It’s about having a say in the decisions that shape our communities and our way of life. Jude also has lines like, “Like something that belonged to us, was decided for us” and “taken advantage of us without even a say.”
But what makes the ad memorable is that it appeals to something deeper than political frustration, which almost all of us feel today. He’s reinforcing those old Midwestern values and reminding people that a state is so much more than its government or political policies. It’s home. It has an identity and a sense of place.
I don’t know much about Jude or his campaign for Minnesota secretary of state, but this ad is a work of art.
—Ray Nothstine
— The Federalism Beat