Clinton Wants Pennsylvanians to be Afraid. Very Afraid.

The Clinton campaign wants you to vote for Hillary Clinton because the stock market crashed, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Kennedy waged the Cold War, Khrushchev and Castro stood together, and Osama bin Laden is out there somewhere.  

I don't know what the Clinton internal polling is telling them.  Therefore, I don't know the target audience, so I can't say if it's likely to be very effective.  It does, however, appear based on the hope that voters will be scared in to voting for Clinton.  As Jason Linkins at the Huffington Post points out, there's this guy with the same last name as Hillary who had a pretty good argument against voting based on fear:

Bill Clinton was correct then and he's correct now, even when the argument is applied against his own wife.

Besides a bit of fear mongering (and production that makes it look like a recruiting commercial for the military), what struck me about the ad is that it appears to convey an impoverished sense of what the presidency is about.  It's not just about dealing with surprise crises or being firm against our adversaries.  And being president isn't only about being tough.  An effective President is an effective persuader.  

Obama has argued that among the reasons he'll be a more effective candidate is that he's more likely to bring in and excite new voters and bridge old divides, thus making Democrats more competitive across the country.  Passing a national health care plan, getting out of Iraq, dealing with a structurally endangered economy, and addressing global concerns like the crises in energy, food production and global warming aren't only about being tough or experienced, and won't be achieved by scaring people.  They will require tremendous gifts of persuasion, but it will also be easier with larger Democratic majorities in Congress.

Back before Super Tuesday, I explained why I want Barack Obama to be the Democratic nominee for President:

But he represents a profound change for the Democratic party.  He is a fresh face with a compelling story of unity and erasing acrimonious divisions in our communities, our country and our world.  It's not just a story that he conveys with brilliance and inspiration, it's a vision for America and the world that he embodies.  I think Americans really are ready to move past the political gridlock and nastiness 40 years.  I think they are ready to resume the progress of the New Deal, the New Frontier, and the Great Society.  They want to be inspired, and they want to get past the racism, the political cynicism and the sense that we can't be better.  They are ready to elect more and better Democrats to help him deliver on the voters' mandate for progress. And with a mandate and with more and better Democrats, President Obama will be able to break loose of the tactical battles of short-term gains and make the kind of bold advances that inspired people to elect and revere great Democrats like Harry Truman, John Kennedy and Franklin Delano Roosevelt.  I think Americans will willingly embrace and ratify that vision with Barack Obama as our candidate, and that's why I hope he will be our nominee.

I also like that he doesn't stoop to fear mongering to get votes.  

UPDATE: Here's Obama's response: