In my Rick Perry post below — I hope never to use that phrase again — I commented that Ronald Reagan's 1984 re-election campaign popularized the use of Coplandisms in the political-ad business. For an earlier example, see the common-man coda of the 1976 Gerald Ford ad above. Below are a few ads for Nixon's 1968 campaign, which go in a different direction. For a man who criticized modernist tendencies in twentieth-century music, Nixon certainly allowed his operatives considerable latitude in harmonizing his message. The first ad seems to suggest that Nixon will restore a clear tonal center in a kooky atonal world, but a slightly jarring raised fourth at the end hints that he, too, has a modernist edge. The second ad meanders through several styles and ends on a sassy discord. The legendary "Nixon for American Youth" ad speaks for itself.
