Why every 2016 candidate will go soft-focus in their quest for authenticity

Hillary Clinton is airing her first ad of the 2016 season. Without even watching, you probably know what it contains.

Hillary Clinton
(Image credit: AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Like the swallows returning to Capistrano, the campaign ads return to Manchester and Des Moines every four years. The airwaves become heavy with the weight of so many messages approved so sincerely, and the owners of local TV stations start wondering whether it's finally time to buy that yacht. And lo, with a mere six months before the New Hampshire and Iowa contests, Hillary Clinton is airing her first ads of the 2016 election. They're full of both warmth and grit, an appreciation for what came before even as her gaze sets upon the future, and all sorts of other inspiring stuff.

This is how ad campaigns usually begin, with spots meant to illuminate some parts of the candidate's biography. The ingredients are always similar, no matter the candidate or party: modest beginnings, important lessons from an elder (often a parent or grandparent who will impart the timeless wisdom that if the future candidate works hard enough, she can go as far as her ambitions and this great country will take her), a lifetime of accomplishment, and a firm connection to regular folks.

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Paul Waldman

Paul Waldman is a senior writer with The American Prospect magazine and a blogger for The Washington Post. His writing has appeared in dozens of newspapers, magazines, and web sites, and he is the author or co-author of four books on media and politics.