Kerry would like to imitate Clinton, whose 1992 campaign made an art of rapid-response, low-production spots handled by consultants. Even in 1996, when Clinton ran a campaign more similar to Reagan’s ’84 reelection bid, ads resembling “Morning in America” were shelved in favor of spots that touted Clinton’s accomplishments. One ad simply showed a series of fast-moving screens filled with text—no voice-over and no images, just a laundry list set to a drumbeat: BRADY BILL SIGNED. HIGHER MINIMUM WAGE SIGNED. COLLEGE TUITION TAX DEDUCTIBLE. $500 CHILD TAX CREDIT. CLEAN AIR AND WATER. INTERNET ACCESS FOR SCHOOLS. ECONOMIC GROWTH. 10,000,000 NEW JOBS.

Kerry was distracted from following this route by Bush’s early attack ads, which forced him to rush out spots like “Bush Misleading America,” a response to Bush’s “Differences.” The ad argued that “John Kerry has never called for a $900 billion tax increase.” Switching from defense to offense, the ad then charged, “Doesn’t America deserve more from its president than misleading negative ads?” This touches on a central theme in Democratic ads this year: undermining Bush’s credibility. A political ad-maker once referred to this strategy as destroying the aircraft carrier rather than trying to shoot down all the planes.

Kerry’s spots are now in the hands of Bob Shrum. (Another ad consultant, Jim Margolis, recently lost a power struggle with him.) Unlike Democratic admen of the previous generation, who came from a television or an advertising background and moved into politics, Shrum, a champion debater, started as a speechwriter, a press flack, and a political strategist before he learned how to shoot ads. His work, which includes some of the toughest attack ads ever made, favors stark, informational content. (One notorious Shrum ad made for a Texas primary questioned whether Governor Ann Richards had snorted coke.)

Shrum has had his greatest success winning Senate races, and the fear among some Democrats is that his spots are too small-bore and issue-based, lacking a big theme. In one of Kerry’s few general-election ads, the senator presents a list of tasks he would like to accomplish, but not a vision that unites them. “We need to get some things done in this country,” he says, sitting in a living room, directly addressing the camera, “Affordable health care, rolling back tax cuts for the wealthy, really investing in our kids. That’s why I’m running for president.”

If Kerry wanted to add a dash of Madison Avenue to his message, he could do worse than check out the work of MoveOn.org, which is airing the most creative and visually arresting political ads of the season. One of the MoveOn spots is an emotional vignette about a down-and-out factory worker. He wanders out of the plant late at night, lunch pail in hand. Bleary-eyed and haggard, he drives home and stumbles into his house, where bills are piled up and his wife and daughter are already asleep. Above spooky music, a voice-over intones: “Times are tough. So you work overtime to make ends meet. Then you find out George W. Bush wants to eliminate overtime pay for 8 million workers.” The tagline declares, “When it comes to choosing between corporate values and family values, face it, George Bush is not on our side.”

Another MoveOn ad is a spare, dramatic piece that shows a lie-detector machine in a darkened room going haywire as President Bush’s prewar State of the Union speech plays. One of MoveOn’s newest ads features an image from a Bush spot that uses imagery from 9/11. As the Bush image floats across a dark screen, the viewer hears the voice of Richard Clarke condemning Bush’s anti-terror policies.

Many Democrats complain that such Bush-bashing, however inspired, won’t change many minds. But one of the men who helped make them, Markman, came up with Miller Lite’s slogan “Everything you always wanted in a beer and less.” So he may know something about changing minds. And after twenty years in business, Markman now makes only political ads for Democrats and liberal causes. “This is my atonement,” he says.