IT'S BORING AGAIN IN AMERICA...

Bush's first set of TV ads is out, and the reviews are in.

Calpundit:

Could "Today America is turning the corner" be any closer to "It's morning again in America" without triggering a copyright infringement suit? Hell, even the music of the two commercials is similar...

The other Bush ads are pretty standard issue stuff, also very Reaganesque in theme if not quite so obviously ripped off. Lots of flags being raised, images of Middle America, paeans to small business owners, "strong leadership," etc.

Will it work? Hard to say. The big difference between the Bush ads and "Morning in America" is that Reagan could genuinely cite some good statistics: inflation down, employment up, interest rates down, and so forth. Bush is limited to vague statements that, um, prosperity is just around the corner.

Marshall:

If you look at the TV ads the president just unveiled today, you quickly see a main -- probably the main -- theme of his reelection campaign: it's not my fault.

Yes, there are all sort of bad things going on. The economy's been rough. The deficit is deepening. Job growth is barely registering. There's all sorts of chaos on the international stage. But it's not my fault. When I got here there was a recession already, which I didn't have anything to do with. That was Clinton's fault. And the same with all the corporate scandals. And then Osama bin Laden got involved and that wasn't my fault either. And that Iraq thing didn't completely work out. But that's the CIA's fault. So if there's anything that's bad now it's not because of anything I did. It's because of 9/11. And if it's not because of 9/11 then it was already broken when I got here. So don't blame me.

and Jesse:

...a bunch of excuses for why Bush's presidency has been so underwhelming, an assurance that things will get better because of vague platitudes about good stuff (oh, and good things), and a folksy, haunting piano melody.

And just for kicks, Rea's comment on Jesse's post:

Anybody remember all the Repubotrolls telling us that the problem with the Democrats is that they don't have any real ideas, that all they have is criticisms of Bush?

Too bad we Dems can't wage a campaign of ideas like those exemplified in these ads, right? There was at least one idea in there somewhere, wasn't there?

My sense from the ads was that they were all sensible musical icing, and no cake. I have no idea if these ads are going to work -- they seem a little soft for the white-boy audiences on ESPN and other likewise channels where the ads will be featured -- but whats clear is that they have two prevailing messages.

1) "I didn't do it!" Bush wants us to know that everything that's gone wrong since he took office, from the terrorist attack to the sluggish economy, either had nothing to do with him, or actually happened before he took office (the dot-com bust is invoked). And...

2) "I know exactly where I'm going next term, but I'm not telling you". You'd think in a full minute he'd be able to elaborate on that really cock-sure "I know exactly where I want to lead this country". You'd be wrong.

Bush's ads, which will air in 17 swing states, tell us something important. We had heard from the administration that they wanted to model their campaign after Clinton's 1996 re-election effort, which sought to define Bob Dole as quickly as possible through early advertisements. Looks like that strategy is on hold for the moment, as these ads exist in a world completely devoid of John Kerry. This means that the Bush team believes its candidate is pretty vulnerable, and they must rescue him from his sluggish polls. I don't see what there is in these ads that would change people's minds, except for a scenario like, "Oh, there's a picture from 9/11. I was so scared that day! I'm voting for that guy."

And by the way, that's three new ads, and no footage from the aircraft carrier.