"Who Do You Want Answering The Phone?"
The Clinton campaign is out with a new ad in Texas highlighting national security. Text: "It's 3am and your children are safe and asleep. But there's a phone in the White House and it's ringing. Something's happening in the world. Your vote will decide who answers that call. Whether it's someone who already knows the world's leaders, knows the military, someone tested and ready to lead in a dangerous world. It's 3am and your children are safe and asleep. Who do you want answering the phone?"
Update: CBS News political consultant Joe Trippi weighs in on the similarity between this ad and one run by Walter Mondale against Gary Hart in the 1984 Democratic campaign. "It is even more than a redo," Trippi notes. "Roy Spence who made the 'Red Phone' ad for Mondale is also the consultant Hillary Clinton brought in several weeks ago. It is really a re release of Roy Spence's greatest hit."
"I was with Mondale at the time and it took weeks for that ad to take hold against Gary Hart, not days as the Clinton campaign is doing now. Also it is interesting that Pat Caddell (Jimmy Carter's pollster) has been publicly saying for weeks that the Clinton campaign should get the 'Red Phone' ad up. He was Gary Hart's pollster in 1984 and knows that this is the ad that killed Gary Hart that year. Looks like the Clinton campaign got that message. But is it too late?"