Journalist George Stephanopoulos on Wednesday praised the campaign commercial of New York City's very liberal mayor-elect as "the most effective political ad I've ever seen." Touting a spot that featured the son of Bill de Blasio, Stephanopoulos and World News anchor Diane Sawyer enthused over its brilliance.
The former Democratic operative for Bill Clinton described the commercial as "narrated by his son Dante who had this dramatic Afro." Stephanopoulos rhapsodized, " I think it's the most effective political ad I've ever seen." [See video below. MP3 audio here.] Sawyer gushed, "Gangbusters. Modern American family there."
The most effective political ad ever?
More effective than the 1984 "there's a bear in the woods" spot?
More intense than the Willie Horton ad?
Lyndon Johnson's 1964 daisy commercial?
A transcript of the November 6 World News segment, which aired at 6:35pm ET, is below:
DIANE SAWYER: The results are in from a big day in democracy and voting in this country. Republican governor Chris Christie won in New Jersey thanks to a trifecta of women, Hispanics and Democrats who crossed over because they preferred him. In Virginia, Democrat and Clinton confidant Terry McAuliffe won, beating out his Tea Party opponent. But it was a close race. So what were the big surprises of the night? Joining me now, anchor of "This Week," co-anchor of "Good Morning America," George Stephanopoulos. And I always love the surprise for the seasoned Stephanopoulos. What did you see yesterday?
SAWYER: Right.
STEPHANOPOULOS: And once that ad aired, he broke out of the pack, never looked back. I think it's the most effective political ad I've ever seen.
SAWYER: Yeah. You were saying gang busters are one thing, and then this is beyond.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Beyond. Absolutely.
SAWYER: Gangbusters. Modern American family there.What about Chris Christie and that big win?
STEPHANOPOULOS: Immediately puts him into the top tier of Republican presidential candidates in 2016 because of that trifecta you talked about right there.
SAWYER: That's the formula a lot of Republicans think will get them to the White House. Big questions ahead. Can he travel outside of New Jersey? And how is he gonna handle the Tea Party who have such influence in those early primary states? Meanwhile in Virginia, kind of a flip. You saw Cuccinelli, the Republican candidate there, seen as an ideologue, did not do very well with women, was hurt by the government shutdown, was falling far behind Terry McAuliffe. But in the closing weeks of that campaign, he talked about nothing but Obamacare, really closed the gap right there. That has a lot of Democrats anxious.
