The best political advertisement of 2016

It's not angry; it's not smutty; it's not vicious.

Michael Cook | Oct 28 2016 | comment

This is being acclaimed as the best TV advertisement of the 2016 election. Not for Hillary Clinton, the Democratic candidate for the US Presidency. Not for Donald Trump, the GOP candidate. For Gerald Daugherty, the incumbent County Commissioner for Travis County, Precinct 3, in Austin, Texas.

County Commissioners do boring stuff like keeping down taxes, making sure that transport systems work and “fighting boondoggles”. Mr Daugherty is running for his last term as County Commissioner.

Note that the advertisement does not mention Mr Daugherty’s political party (he is a Republican). In fact, it doesn’t mention politics at all. It portrays him as a statistic-obsessed Mr Fix-It who will drive his loving wife mad if he is defeated and starts helping her with the laundry.

Isn’t it odd that the most successful ad of this bitter and dirty election year is one which is funny, depicts conventional gender roles, and sweeps ideology under the carpet?

Mr Daugherty’s campaign philosophy is simple: “"Good public servants should know what to do: Roll your sleeves up, do what you say you're going to do, and deliver the best service you can to this community." Is there a lesson here?

Michael Cook is editor of MercatorNet.

The disappearance of moral consensus from Western society has turned us all into social scientists spouting the latest study to support our values. But not even “data” can end arguments over issues like abortion, euthanasia and same-sex parenting.

Mark Regnerus, a professor of sociology at the University of Texas at Austin, knows that better than most people. More than four years since his New Family Structures Study on same-sex families was published, he continues to be criticised, indeed vilified, by peers and activists alike for findings which contradict a cosy consensus that there are “no differences” between the children from same-sex and opposite-sex households.

However, he is not about to give up. In today’s Public Discourse essay Professor Regnerus explains carefully and dispassionately the shaky ground on which the consensus rests. It will be worth your while to memorise a few critical facts from this piece for your next after dinner debate or letter to the editor.

Also today: Michael Cook introduces the best political advertisement of 2016 (video, none of the usual suspects); Emily Watson reviews a C.S. Lewis classic; Alistair Nicholas plugs for The Donald; Matthew Hanley fills in some gaps in breast cancer information; and Marcus Roberts contemplates a gloomy population outlook for Spain.

Enjoy your weekend!