JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Lobbyists, longtime politicians and the political left are the targets of ads from competing gubernatorial candidates.
And in one ad, target is not used lightly.
Former Navy SEAL Eric Greitens caught a lot of attention with his ad called “Taking Aim” in which Greitens appears in a field with a tricked out M4 rifle.
“For too long, Missouri’s been run by career politicians, owned by corrupt consultants, high-paid lobbyists and special interests,” he says in the ad. “While they get rich, Missourians are hurting. I’m a Navy SEAL, and I’ll take dead aim at politics as usual.”
Greitens then puts on a pair of sunglasses, fires about a dozen rounds and causes an explosion in the field he is facing while dramatic music plays in the background. You can watch it in all its Michael Bay-inspired glory below.
This is Greitens’ first official TV spot, and it joins a long line of conservative-leaning politicians making guns the focal point of their advertisements. Democratic U.S. Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia famously shot a copy of President Barack Obama’s Cap and Trade bill with a hunting rifle in a 2010 ad when he was running for Senate and trying to distance himself from the Obama administration. It made an immediate impact when it first aired.
Similarly, Greitens’ ad also made a big impression on Twitter when it launched Monday afternoon. One of the first to respond was the Missouri Democratic Party.
Thanks to @EricGreitens for summing up GOP plans for education funding, healthcare access, & organized labor. #mogov pic.twitter.com/GpLHhg3f58
— MO Democratic Party (@MoDemParty) June 6, 2016
The spot follows a week which saw Greitens’ primary opponents, Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder and businessman John Brunner, release ads of their own. Kinder’s ad, titled “Fighting the Radical Left,” highlights his efforts to fight executive overreach and shows a muted color version of Melissa Click, the fired professor at the University of Missouri who called for “muscle” during the protests there in November, will air in two Missouri markets for 10 days.
“Missouri’s values are under attack,” Kinder says. “As the Left pushes its destructive agenda, Missourians are being force-fed Obamacare, our teachers forced to follow Common Core, and our children’s safety is at risk.”
That last line is accompanied by a sign for an all-gender bathroom, referring to the national transgender bathroom debate that Kinder has focused on in recent months.
Brunner’s advertisement came out Monday to combat against a $1 million dollar ad campaign from the LG PAC funded by Hank Monsees, alleging that Brunner dodged paying taxes or did not pay them on time. Brunner’s ad calls these claims “flat-out lies.”
“He’s the only candidate who can’t be bought,” a narrator says, before citing some of his credentials as a business person.
A representative of the Hanaway campaign said she would have a new TV spot going up in the next few days.
Just two months out from the primary, the political ad season appears to be in full swing.
