Newsom Looks To Revamp California Dream in New Campaign Ad

Offering a new “California dream,” today Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gavin Newsom has released his first campaign ad. And yeah, it’s got Wilco.

While rival candidate and businessman John Cox has been highly focused on bombarding Newsom and other politicians for mishaps leading to current California faults, Newsom’s 30-second spot provides to be a sharp contrast. Focusing on themes such as children and youth, Newsom states “To renew the California dream we need to renew our promise to our children… the future is not just in front of us, it’s inside us.”

Newsom’s ad begins with him casually dressed front and center before panning to several clips of him reading in daycares and on youth training job sites. He then continues to elaborate on his promise stating that “every single baby will have quality prenatal care, every toddler can attend preschool, every student has access to high-quality after-school programs and every graduate has meaningful job training and work opportunities.”

As the voiceover recedes the background music comes forward. And it’s freakin’ awesome. The song is, fittingly enough, “California Stars” by alt-country heroes Wilco, from their 1998 record Mermaid Avenue, which the group recorded with the great British singer-songwriter Billy Bragg as a tribute to the style and legacy of Woody Guthrie.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Newsom’s spokesman Nathan Click said “the ad will be broadcast statewide as well as on digital media platforms, costing the campaign seven figures.”  California Globe has inquired of the Newsom campaign looking for an exact amount; this story will be updated if the campaign responds. We do know that Cox is currently only running ads on digital platforms and he has spent about $150,000 in that department.