WKTV has a look at the commercial from Richard Hanna's campaign:
In the commercial, Hanna says:
"As a contractor, I've built a lot of things over the years...and put a lot of people to work. Nothing is more important than rebuilding this community. We need more jobs and better pay. That will be my number one priority. I will work to stop the wasteful spending and say no to higher taxes. Most importantly I'll say no to the party bosses in Washington. I've never run for political office before. I can't stand by any longer and watch the career politician destroy our country."
Hanna lays out his professional background as well as talking about what he feels are the most important issues to him when it comes to the area.
While, the ad doesn't call anyone out on issues in the traditional sense, it rather lays out a sort of foundation for the viewer asking the question "Who is Richard Hanna?"
That's a good summary of the ad, but they then go beyond that and do something I really like- analyze the content of the commercial and subject it to a "truth test". Since it's basically introducing Mr. Hanna to the voters, giving some of his background and motivation for running, it's not surprising they didn't find any un-supported statements or distortions.
I'm genuinely taken aback that they not only did some solid reporting on this ad, but intend to do in-depth analysis of political commercials throughout election season. That's a level of commitment that, frankly, WKTV hasn't shown in the past. The station's newsgathering and editorial standards have never been particularly high because they faced limited competition in a market that's been continually shrinking for the last 30 years. This new feature could be a sign things are finally changing for the better, and for that they deserve both credit and praise.
Update: Mr. Hanna's commercial is now available on Youtube.
