Bernie Sanders, Simon and Garfunkel, Put Focus on Voters, commercial video, America/Bernie Sanders [View all]

[cal04]

With the help of the Simon and Garfunkel song “America,” Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont has released a powerful 60-second commercial in Iowa that seeks to remind his supporters how far he, and they, have come — and to inspire them anew to caucus for him on Feb. 1.

(snip)
Hope and inclusiveness. In effect, 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.

Children and young adults are the main focus, all of them with much to look forward to; the ad’s tagline promises them “a future to believe in.” (Still, older women — possibly the strongest demographic of his chief rival, Hillary Clinton — might well be moved by the music of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, both 74, the same age as Mr. Sanders.)

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

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/22/us/politics/bernie-sanders-and-simon-and-garfunkel-put-focus-on-voters.html?_r=0

The spot is set to hit airwaves Friday in both Iowa and New Hampshire, states where Bernie Sanders has seen increased support.

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/01/bernie-ad-218056