Commentary
I can't help myself, every time I see Tim Pawlenty's online campaign trailers, I get goose bumps.
Perfectly crafted for Midwestern saps like me, these Internet-only videos feature montages of good-looking Americans--Martin Luther King Jr., Ronald Reagan, a soldier and his wife, a newborn, a truck driver, a scruffy fellow wearing a hard hat.
Making these minimovies all the more powerful are the soundtracks -- swelling backdrops of strings and bold brass, exactly like an action adventure film, with Pawlenty poised to save the day.
From an artistic standpoint, the first of these videos is the stronger -- it was launched two months ago, long before Pawlenty's announcement Monday of a presidential exploratory committee.
In that premiere video, the former Minnesota governor's thin voice feeds through a high-tech audio-editing suite, only to emerge as thunderous as a drill sergeant's.
"Valley Forge wasn't easy," asserts the reverberating Pawlenty-like voiceover.
And that's fine by me. Though no battle was fought there, the Continental Army's six-month encampment at Valley Forge was characterized by brutal cold, hunger and mass desertions. Nevertheless, George Washington and his troops emerged a stronger, more unified force.