Hillary Clinton Ad Spreads ‘a Little Hope and Love’

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/26/us/politics/hillary-clinton-ad-spreads-a-little-hope-and-love.html

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With the political rhetoric on both sides of the presidential contest reaching new levels of vitriol, Hillary Clinton’s campaign has released a new ad ahead of Tuesday’s primaries seeking to sow “a little hope and love now.”

The voice of Andra Day rises from a chorus without instrumental backing, setting the tone for the 60-second spot: “Spread a little hope and love now.”

Scenes from the Clinton campaign flicker in and out of focus: the candidate doling out high-fives, striding toward a stage, and supporters looking pensive at her events. Big block text with broad platitudes overlay the scenery, calling to “break down barriers.”

Ms. Day continues with the second part of the chorus: “We’ll walk it out together.” Mrs. Clinton is shown with Geneva Reed-Veal, the mother of Sandra Bland, who was found hanged in a Texas jail cell after a routine traffic stop last year, and Representative John Lewis, Democrat of Georgia.

The scenes shift to Mrs. Clinton practicing what Ms. Day is preaching: hugging, high-fiving, embracing and smiling with supporters. She warmly grasps the hand of Gabrielle Giffords, a former congresswoman who was shot in the head in Arizona in 2011, as she makes her way across the stage.

Halfway through the ad, we hear from Mrs. Clinton, but not from the stump. She is backstage, arms around a small, African-American boy. “We need to make sure he gets the chance to do that,” she says to the other women with her.

Audible cheers slowly fade in after Ms. Day reaches the crescendo of the song, and Mrs. Clinton stands smiling in front of the crowd as text on the screen closes the ad: “Let’s stand together.”

Amid an increasingly negative campaign, the ad borrows from a theme Mrs. Clinton has been talking about for years: more “love and kindness.” The long, extended and emotional call for unity wraps in the social and civil rights causes that have been central themes of Mrs. Clinton’s campaign, evidenced by Ms. Reed-Veal and Ms. Giffords, and minorities are given prominence in a majority of the scenes.

The ad makes no verifiable claims.

It is running in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Connecticut media markets.

The ad has the feel of a closing argument, and while it lands just before five Northeastern primary states go to vote, the message looks beyond Tuesday as Mrs. Clinton’s call for unity is likely aimed at upporters of Senator Bernie Sanders, whom the campaign will need to bring under its umbrella as it tries to move past a rancorous nominating contest against him.