The Crack Up
I don’t think it’s going to work, but I love the “3 AM” Clinton ad. The gist of the ad is that it’s 3 a.m., your children are sleeping, and something bad is going on in the world…and who do you want in the White House to pick up the phone, Clinton or Obama? The Clintons have obviously read their Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald said, “In a real dark night of the soul, it is always three o’clock in the morning.” You can find that quote in a book called, ominously for the Clintons, The Crack Up. They understand that there are fears that awake at night that aren’t there in the light of day. Their problem is two-fold: They started running this ad way too late, when Democrats, if not independents and Republicans, have largely become willing, if not entirely comfortable, with the prospect of Obama taking that call. But the main problem for the Clinton campaign is voting stations aren’t open at three o’clock in the morning.
