Who's the reason for the season? Oh, that's right--He is.
In
a new ad set to debut tomorrow in Iowa, New Hampshire and South
Carolina, Mike Huckabee puts the "Christ" back in Christmas. Wearing a
red sweater and standing before a glowing Tannenbaum as "Silent Night"
softly plays, the former Arkansas governor asks viewers if they're
"about worn out of all the television commercials you've been seeing,
mostly about politics."
(Insert mental image of red-sweatered Iowans, New Hampshirites and South Carolinians nodding in agreement here.)
"I
don't blame you," he says. "At this time of year, sometimes it's nice
to pull aside from all of that and remember that"--pause, inhale, smile
sincerely--"what really matters is the celebration of the birth of
Christ." After which he mentions "Christmas" twice more and closes with
a final "God bless."
This might be the smartest ad of the cycle. For all the observers wondering how the candidates would manage the awkward holiday/caucus overlap, Huckabee delivers a master class.
The
first step: beating his rivals to the "This Is No Time for Politics"
punch; now every on-air attempt they make to topple the frontrunner
from his above-the-fray pedestal looks tawdry.
The next step:
reminding voters which side of the "War on Christmas" he's on. Most
campaigns run tame, PC "holiday" fare. Not Huckabee. A Southern Baptist
pastor, he's counting on evangelicals to win in Iowa. What better way
to prove he will put religion in the public square as president than by
rejecting establishment attempts to banish Christ from Christmas and
defiantly putting religion in the public square today? With very few Jews, Muslims or atheists in Iowa, New Hampshire or South Carolina to
take offense--and none who were planning to vote for Huckabee the ones who would be offended probably wouldn't vote for Huckabee, anyway*--it's all upside in electoral terms.
The final, and most
important, step: getting the secular media all riled up.
Expect plenty of "Oh, No He Di'n't" coverage on cable news, with a
hearty dollop of "What Does It All Mean?" The press loves nothing more
than to huff and puff over religion. For Huckabee's cash-strapped
campaign, that means priceless free exposure--and millions of opportunities for its neighborly candidate to connect with the vast majority
of Americans who agree with his idea of "what really matters."
The pundits may say naughty. Stumper says nice.
UPDATE, 12.18.07: Oh, and I should probably mention that there's a GIANT CROSS hovering behind Huckabee. Sure, it looks like a shelf holding ornaments, but the shape is unmistakable. Coincidence? Subliminal messaging? A Christmas miracle? You tell me.
*Reworded for clarity.
