It was inevitable that someone with enough time on their hands would compile a list of the best viral campaign video ads of 2010. There sure have been some doozies this year, so I can't fault Time magazine for including hits like "Demon Sheep" and the Dale Peterson ad in their top 20 list.
That said, of the 15 Republican ads in the list, most were panned by Time staffers. By contrast, two Democrats' ads -- Rep. Tom Perreillo (Va.) and Sen. Pat Leahy (Vt.) primary opponent Dan Freilich -- were panned, yet neither candidate's Democratic affiliation was mentioned in the blurbs about the ads.
By contrast, Democratic Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (S.D.), who's presenting herself to voters as a fiscal conservative, was praised for an ad featuring her toddler son, and Time's FeiFei Sun cheered Colorado Democratic gubernatorial nominee John Hickenlooper for his "Clean Campaign" in which he humorously promised to eschew negative campaign ads.
Sun did get in a few digs at the infamous Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.), whose anti-Republican attack ad she labeled as "hyperbolic," but she also joked that James Cameron should direct feature-length versions of his campaign ads.
By contrast, a Republican primary candidate hoping to spar against Grayson in November, Dan Fanelli, was roundly denounced by writer Katy Steinmetz for his "terrorist profiling ad":
We can't tell if Florida congressional candidate Dan Fanelli is being serious with this ad. He opens with some pretty intense racial profiling he points to a nerdy white guy and a stacked Arab guy, and asks which one looks like a terrorist. Then he moves on to deluded narcissism. Grinning, Fanelli approaches the camera and says, "Let's face it. If a good-looking, ripped guy without much hair was flying airplanes into the Twin Towers, I'd have no problem being pulled out of line at the airport." Sorry, Dan; you might be as bald as Bruce Willis, but you're lacking in just about every other department.
