From TIME’s Amy Sullivan:
Like Jon Chait, I grew up in a Michigan family that has only every purchased cars from American automakers. When Chrysler was in serious trouble in the 1980s, my mom declared that it was our family duty to help out Lee Iacocca, and by God, over the next ten years we bought a string of identically crappy Plymouth Horizons.
In the 1990s, I briefly worked for a Michigan congressman who couldn’t forbid his staff from buying foreign cars, but did decree that only American cars could be parked in the allotted congressional parking spots. In one local congressional primary race, the question of whether a candidate had once rented a foreign car became the deciding campaign issue. And every time I go home, I can drive miles without passing a foreign car while at the same time discovering new Ford and GM models that I’m pretty sure aren’t even sold in other arts of the country (Ford Probe, anyone?)
Which is all just to say that this new Obama ad, currently airing in Michigan, could be very effective:
It’s heavy-handed, exploits protectionist impulses, and makes no sense outside of Michigan. But it will resonate around the Motor City.
