The Swing-State Show
 
  A guide to the raging campaign you're unlikely to see living in locked-up New York.  
  Ads You're Missing
 
  A sampler of current political commercials — from Pennsylvania to Florida.  
  Only in New York
 
  New York Magazine asked four Manhattan ad agencies to design their own Bush and Kerry spots. Here's what they came up with...  
  Most Effective Ad So Far
 
  Bush and Cheney fixate on jobs in their cunningly poetic "21st Century" ad.  
  Best Ads of All Time
 
  Insiders rate the top campaign commercials ever.  
  More....
 
  New York Magazine's complete coverage of the 2004 race.  
What You’re Missing
A sampler of current campaign ads.
In swing states like Pennsylvania, Missouri, and Florida, this is how the presidential race is being conducted. (The occasional MoveOn spot has been seen in New York on cable.)
 
By Stephanie Zacharek
 
BUSH/CHENEY, "Safer, Stronger."
Montage of dispiriting images—the recession, the pooped-out stock market, the dot-com bust—followed by a Teflon flag waving in front of 9/11 ruins. Then children appear from nowhere, running happily.

BUSH/CHENEY, "100 Days."
Uses fast-moving Brian De Palma–style sleight-of-hand, triple-screen effects to enumerate Kerry’s alleged flaws, such as a preference for high taxes and low defense spending.

   
BUSH/CHENEY, "Wacky."
A sharp stylistic departure. Grainy, jerky silent-film footage makes Kerry look like a buffoon, while text blames him for higher gas prices.
THE MEDIA FUND, "It's About Priorities."
Uses images of lonely schoolkids, sick children, and sad elderly to show domestic deprivation caused by the war in Iraq. Closes with photo of Bush looking especially cross-eyed. .
   
KERRY, "Fought for His Country."
The political blue-plate special. Kerry talking earnestly about health care and kids intercut with him, Vietnam-era, receiving medals. Then Kerry, in shirtsleeves, communing with average Americans.
KERRY, "Bush Misleading America."
Kerry defends himself against Bush’s negative ads: “Doesn’t America deserve more from its president than misleading negative ads?” Features flag and Kerry among citizens. More shirtsleeves.
   
MOVEON, "Lie Detector."
A close-up of a polygraph readout going crazy while Bush makes remarks about Saddam Hussein’s weapons. Would be chilling to some, unpatriotic to others. Makes no attempt whatsoever at persuasion.
MOVEON, "He Ignored Terrorism."
Minimal and ominous. Uses voice of the former antiterrorism chief Richard Clarke over mute images of Bush going about his business with great self-importance.
   
 
From the April 19, 2004 issue of New York Magazine.
 
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