Ameya Pawar, 47th Ward Alderman and Democratic candidate for Illinois governor, today released a new digital spot, “Stop the Violence.” The video, part of the One Illinois video series, features Pawar’s participation in Danville’s Three Kings of Peace March.
“It makes me feel good when I see people organizing for their communities when the cameras aren’t here, when the media isn’t here. They’re just doing their work. They are marching in the street, bringing community together, praying together, all in the hopes of stopping violent activity, showing that there’s a different path,” explains Pawar.
The Three Kings of Peace are a group of Danville pastors dedicated to promoting peace amidst a surge of gang violence. They hold regular marches, organize school activities, and provide training on keeping teens out of trouble.
“I talk about race and class, and about how we’re all one state, and that we’re neighbors. You can see that in the march today. You have communities in Danville that have been hard hit by violence and poverty. That’s the same thing that’s happening on the south and west sides of Chicago, and in other parts of the state like East St. Louis.
“So, when are we going to start talking about poverty, and helping people? Moving beyond dividing the state, and actually bringing people together, transcending race and class?”
As part of his plan to visit all 102 Illinois counties—not just the urban centers—to listen to Republicans, Democrats and independents, Pawar has traveled more than 8,000 miles over the last 8 months and visited more than 60 counties.
Two weeks ago Pawar introduced his criminal justice plan and it was the most left-leaning and somewhat out of the box policy agenda we’ve seen from a major party candidate in a while at a time when the Democratic party is moving left. It was part of plausible path to significant votes in this primary. This Danville anti-violence video is a good follow up, it’s a continuation downstate on an agenda he started focusing on.
But then there’s this:
“As part of his plan to visit all 102 Illinois counties—not just the urban centers—to listen to Republicans, Democrats and independents, Pawar has traveled more than 8,000 miles over the last 8 months and visited more than 60 counties.”
Why? He doesn’t have the money to effectively compete for downstate voters, he can’t possibly meet them all, who’s in charge of the thinking over there? He spends too much time where his voters ain’t and not enough time where his voters are, that’s the Pawar campaign in a nutshell. What little money he has he’s wasting on travel to go to places where so few votes are available.
I like Pawar. I think he is the better “progressive” candidate between him and Biss. His campaign videos always tend to be well done and are hopefully effective.
S..L…O…W. Pick up the pace. The cheesy piano in the background doesn’t help. Poor framing of interview. The candidate is your biggest asset in the video. Don’t chop off his head or give him awkward lead space. Ever heard of the rule of thirds? Axis breaks everywhere and repeat shots of the same people over and over and over and over again. Sure you can create depth of field with an XLR but how about changing the z axis every once in a while.
Amateur effort. Not compelling or interesting. Only people staying through the first 10 seconds are already die hards.
Pretty good for a Democratic Primary (and a similar ad would get an A+ if he was running for Mayor of Chicago).
It should get people to take a second look. At the same time, however, somehow it seems to appeal to the left a bit much for next November. I can’t imagine middle class suburban voters embracing this.
Prior to this, I thought he tapped out at Alderman. Now, I’m impressed enough that I’m thinking Mayor or Congress are distinct possibilities.
==What little money he has he’s wasting on travel to go to places where so few votes are available.==
In addition, due to his family’s schedule, he visits those places at less-than-ideal times.
But I don’t mind a candidate going to some odd places; in a primary, you never know who “your voters” really are, and just showing up is such a powerful tool.
I would give it a C. On the plus side, it has emotional resonance and the “embrace each other” chant at the end really works. As others have mentioned, it’s too slow. It also doesn’t connect anything Pawar could or would to to address violence or poverty, other than to “talk about” it. I’m more interested in voting for the pastor leading the march.
I liked it, even if it was a bit slow and didn’t address his actual platform on violence/poverty — how could it, at under 2 minutes?
It convinced me to take a second look at his platform, and it was sufficiently compelling to make me want to follow him through his travels.
I agree that it’s important he introduce himself to downstate voters; after all, he’s a Chicago guy, and the successful candidate really needs to unite all Illinoisans behind him and his platform. This Chicago-downstate hostility so favored by some (mentioning no names, of course)has to stop sometime.
Yes, he’s progressive - but then, so was Bernie Sanders, and he attracted a lot of support in theoretically-unlikely places.
To gain voters’ support, you’ve got to take your message directly to them, and that’s what he’s doing.
Grade B.
This didn’t feel like you were watching a campaign video—and that’s a good thing. It was more about calling attention to the very similar challenges that most communities everywhere across the state face than about him or about his competitors. I understand the criticism that there are not enough voters downstate to get him over the top. He does not have much money to blanket the airwaves–this time. But if, in fact, he does visit all 201 counties and actually listens to people he meets there and connects with local influencers, Pawar will be head and shoulders above other hopefuls in this or future campaigns with respect to knowing this state.
Candidate Pawar. Some advice. Get off the sanctuary city nonsense. Working class Dems,former Dems and Independents know this is purely a ruse to garner Hispanic votes. You wanna know why Dems are losing it? Pprovide safe havens for illegals who commit a crime. Secondly, stop with the healthcare for all unless you come out and support the cadillac tax to pay for it. Prove that you are more than just an empty campaign promise. No charge.
- A guy - Tuesday, Aug 8, 17 @ 9:38 am:
This guy could teach JB and Chris K how to concept and execute an effective video. It’s very well done.
- The Captain - Tuesday, Aug 8, 17 @ 9:46 am:
Two weeks ago Pawar introduced his criminal justice plan and it was the most left-leaning and somewhat out of the box policy agenda we’ve seen from a major party candidate in a while at a time when the Democratic party is moving left. It was part of plausible path to significant votes in this primary. This Danville anti-violence video is a good follow up, it’s a continuation downstate on an agenda he started focusing on.
But then there’s this:
“As part of his plan to visit all 102 Illinois counties—not just the urban centers—to listen to Republicans, Democrats and independents, Pawar has traveled more than 8,000 miles over the last 8 months and visited more than 60 counties.”
Why? He doesn’t have the money to effectively compete for downstate voters, he can’t possibly meet them all, who’s in charge of the thinking over there? He spends too much time where his voters ain’t and not enough time where his voters are, that’s the Pawar campaign in a nutshell. What little money he has he’s wasting on travel to go to places where so few votes are available.
- Nishi - Tuesday, Aug 8, 17 @ 9:49 am:
I like Pawar. I think he is the better “progressive” candidate between him and Biss. His campaign videos always tend to be well done and are hopefully effective.
- Postbot 6000 - Tuesday, Aug 8, 17 @ 9:50 am:
S..L…O…W. Pick up the pace. The cheesy piano in the background doesn’t help. Poor framing of interview. The candidate is your biggest asset in the video. Don’t chop off his head or give him awkward lead space. Ever heard of the rule of thirds? Axis breaks everywhere and repeat shots of the same people over and over and over and over again. Sure you can create depth of field with an XLR but how about changing the z axis every once in a while.
Amateur effort. Not compelling or interesting. Only people staying through the first 10 seconds are already die hards.
- SammyG - Tuesday, Aug 8, 17 @ 9:53 am:
Well done, not slick, uses the venue well. He’s doing a lot without much money.
- Michael Westen - Tuesday, Aug 8, 17 @ 9:58 am:
He just raised his ceiling from 4% to 4.2%.
- WTF - Tuesday, Aug 8, 17 @ 10:10 am:
Very good ad. Not slick, but that will help it resonate in the areas he’s targeting, particularly Chicago and East St. Louis.
- Gooner - Tuesday, Aug 8, 17 @ 10:10 am:
Pretty good for a Democratic Primary (and a similar ad would get an A+ if he was running for Mayor of Chicago).
It should get people to take a second look. At the same time, however, somehow it seems to appeal to the left a bit much for next November. I can’t imagine middle class suburban voters embracing this.
Prior to this, I thought he tapped out at Alderman. Now, I’m impressed enough that I’m thinking Mayor or Congress are distinct possibilities.
- Arsenal - Tuesday, Aug 8, 17 @ 10:21 am:
==What little money he has he’s wasting on travel to go to places where so few votes are available.==
In addition, due to his family’s schedule, he visits those places at less-than-ideal times.
But I don’t mind a candidate going to some odd places; in a primary, you never know who “your voters” really are, and just showing up is such a powerful tool.
- Century Club - Tuesday, Aug 8, 17 @ 10:21 am:
I would give it a C. On the plus side, it has emotional resonance and the “embrace each other” chant at the end really works. As others have mentioned, it’s too slow. It also doesn’t connect anything Pawar could or would to to address violence or poverty, other than to “talk about” it. I’m more interested in voting for the pastor leading the march.
- dbk - Tuesday, Aug 8, 17 @ 10:48 am:
I liked it, even if it was a bit slow and didn’t address his actual platform on violence/poverty — how could it, at under 2 minutes?
It convinced me to take a second look at his platform, and it was sufficiently compelling to make me want to follow him through his travels.
I agree that it’s important he introduce himself to downstate voters; after all, he’s a Chicago guy, and the successful candidate really needs to unite all Illinoisans behind him and his platform. This Chicago-downstate hostility so favored by some (mentioning no names, of course)has to stop sometime.
Yes, he’s progressive - but then, so was Bernie Sanders, and he attracted a lot of support in theoretically-unlikely places.
To gain voters’ support, you’ve got to take your message directly to them, and that’s what he’s doing.
- Ghost - Tuesday, Aug 8, 17 @ 11:56 am:
What the Captain said.
his campaign seems a little niave too
- Boone's is Back - Tuesday, Aug 8, 17 @ 12:16 pm:
Good video and sincere. Just not sure if it does anything to move the needle or how much exposure it will get.
- Responsa - Tuesday, Aug 8, 17 @ 12:29 pm:
Grade B.
This didn’t feel like you were watching a campaign video—and that’s a good thing. It was more about calling attention to the very similar challenges that most communities everywhere across the state face than about him or about his competitors. I understand the criticism that there are not enough voters downstate to get him over the top. He does not have much money to blanket the airwaves–this time. But if, in fact, he does visit all 201 counties and actually listens to people he meets there and connects with local influencers, Pawar will be head and shoulders above other hopefuls in this or future campaigns with respect to knowing this state.
- blue dog dem - Tuesday, Aug 8, 17 @ 4:25 pm:
Candidate Pawar. Some advice. Get off the sanctuary city nonsense. Working class Dems,former Dems and Independents know this is purely a ruse to garner Hispanic votes. You wanna know why Dems are losing it? Pprovide safe havens for illegals who commit a crime. Secondly, stop with the healthcare for all unless you come out and support the cadillac tax to pay for it. Prove that you are more than just an empty campaign promise. No charge.