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Why do all of Gascón’s opponents’ campaign advertisements have a similar appearance?
The ads open with a stirring violin track, the subject striding confidently past the Broadway facade of the L.A. County Hall of Justice, or the Temple Street face of the United States Courthouse, or the Art Deco tower of City Hall.
A piano swells under the strings as the star greets first responders, working families or unhoused people.
The screen flashes to a drone shot of downtown, a quick cut to a closeup of Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascón, and then grainy CCTV video of one of America’s most talked-about crime trends: the “smash and grab.”
If those commercials seem familiar, it’s because L.A. County’s 5 million registered voters are being bombarded with campaign messages that tend to follow a similar script.
The March 5 primary race for district attorney is the most crowded contest in the office’s 174-year history, with 11 candidates running to unseat Gascón as L.A.’s top cop. And yet, in a race defined by the struggle to stand out, the ads flooding YouTube, Instagram and Facebook feel almost identical.
The challengers include Deputy Dist. Attys. Jonathan Hatami, Maria Ramirez and Eric Siddall, defense attorney Nathan Hochman and Judge Craig Mitchell — all of whom have run ads that hit the same notes.
Former federal prosecutor Jeff Chemerinsky, Deputy Dist. Atty. John McKinney and Judge Debra Archuleta use the same music, sweeping aerial shots and crime video quick cuts, but skip the glad-handing and downtown power walk.
Experts say video ads are essential to reaching L.A. County‘s electorate, which is larger than the voter rolls in most U.S. states, including 2020 presidential deciders Arizona, Nevada, Minnesota and Wisconsin. The district attorney’s race has prompted the fundraising to match the office’s high profile, and candidates are pouring cash into their political spots.
“If you’re trying to reach millions of voters, the most effective, cost-efficient way is to make a video and plaster it on social media,” said Hrag Yedalian of Blue State Campaigns, a political consulting agency that has worked with several local candidates, including Mitchell.
But Yedalian said that in the rush to produce content and avoid controversy, “a lot of these political videos are one of two things: They’re either really predictable or they’re boring — and they can often be both.”
There are only so many ways to frame up a power pose or repackage a viral cellphone video of a crime, and a limited selection of royalty-free classical tracks tagged “inspiration” on clearinghouse sites used by ad producers.
So in a field of 12 politicians gunning for the same job, some aesthetic overlap is inevitable.
But the L.A. ads are dramatically more alike one another than those for prosecutors in Manhattan, San Francisco, Portland, Ore., Houston or Chicago — all major metropolitan areas with contested races and similar public safety concerns, in an election year when crime is a political bellwether.
For one thing, the local spots are much slicker.
“Being in the L.A. area, we’re held to a higher standard,” said Emrys Roberts, director of photography for Mitchell’s announcement.
The judge’s video, which was modeled on work for athletic brands, is now a finalist for the political advertising industry’s prestigious Reed Award.
“We looked at: What’s Nike doing? What’s Asics doing?” said Yedalian, who dreamed up Mitchell’s spot. “This is not a campaign ad; it’s a short doc about the realities of Los Angeles and what the judge is doing to combat it.”
In some ways, the ads for the district attorney’s race reflect the state of American political theater in the movie capital of the world, where rivers of campaign cash flow in and out of Hollywood every election cycle.
Both organized retail theft and the proliferation of encampments contribute to a perception of lawlessness, polls show, regardless of whether they threaten everyday Angelenos or can be mitigated by the district attorney alone.
The sense that the top prosecutor should do more to fix those issues has helped drive Gascón’s current slump and swell the ranks of his challengers. Less than a quarter of voters now approve of him, according to a recent USC-Dornsife poll.
That gets at the third reason most ads look alike: They all share the same heel.
“Everyone is running not against each other, but against Gascón, so the throughline everyone wants is, ‘We want to be tough on crime,’” Yedalian said.
But while Gascón may be the man to beat on Super Tuesday, his challengers have yet to prove themselves the hero, either on-screen or in the polls.
“If you’re just getting the message that you shouldn’t vote for George Gascón … that’s wasted money,” Robinson said.
It’s a point that cold-case prosecutor Lloyd “Bobcat” Masson exploits in his latest video, the forth in a series of DIY hits that feel more like a personal injury attorney’s ads than something for a political campaign.
“My budget’s a lot tinier, so there’s no way I’m going to be able to compete with mass advertising,” Masson said. “We wanted to do something with viral capability.”
Instead of a traditional ad, he and a pal put together a series of property-crime skits with just a car and two actors — plus an exhaust resonator meant to stand in for a stolen catalytic converter.
This week, he released a fourth video, this one set in the cleaning aisle of a corner store.
“Why are there so many choices?” an actor groans, surveying a shelf of spray bottles — all identical except that each bears the name of a different Gascón challenger. “They all look the same.”
News
Is now the right time to invest in gold as prices have cooled?
The price of gold has climbed to record highs recently and has remained strong through much of April. And, that growth continued until the precious metal traded at around $2,390 per ounce on April 19, 2024. But since, growth in the price of the precious metal has cooled, with gold’s price now hovering around $2,300 per ounce.
This lull in gold’s price may represent an investment opportunity.
In general, investing is centered around buying assets when prices are low and selling them when prices are high – generating a profit on the difference between the two. So, considering the declines in gold’s price over the past few days, now may be the time to make your investment. But is buying gold during this lull in prices really a good idea?
Compare your gold investment options among leading brokers now.
Gold prices have cooled. Should you buy in now?
With gold’s price down from recent highs, you may be wondering if now is the right time to buy in. There are several reasons the dip in gold’s price may represent an opportunity to buy. Here are some of the biggest:
Prices may rise again
If looking at a gold price chart shows anything for certain, it shows that changes in the overall growth of the medal come in fits and spurts. Periods of price growth are typically followed by periods of declines and vice versa.
But with inflation rising in recent months – and with gold’s reputation as a safe-haven asset that can hedge against inflation – it only makes sense that the price of the precious metal will eventually start to head up again in the future. While attempting to time that directional change may be tricky, buying the precious metal while the price is down gives you the opportunity to take advantage of any upward movement that may be ahead.
Add gold to your portfolio now before prices have a chance to rise.
You may be able to make a quick profit
Gold isn’t known as an asset in which you can earn a quick return, but in today’s market, that may be the case. Don’t forget that in January, gold was trading at just $2,000 per ounce. And, by mid-April, the commodity’s price had climbed to around $2,400 per ounce. That’s about 20% growth in a matter of months, much of which happened since March 1 – an impressive climb for any investment asset.
Perhaps more importantly, gold’s price growth through the beginning of 2024 shows that the commodity doesn’t have to be a buy and hold style investment that you keep in a safety deposit box or precious metal depository for years to come. There’s also the possibility that the commodity’s price could climb further ahead, making it a compelling way to potentially generate a quick profit.
There are other benefits of investing in gold
There are other benefits of investing in gold that have little to do with the price growth seen thus far in 2024 – or the lull in prices seen over the past couple of days. Those benefits include:
- Inflation protection: Gold has long been considered an inflation hedge, and for good reason. When inflation drives the prices of consumer goods and services up – and the value of the dollar down – gold’s price tends to rise. So, it could be used to maintain the value of your portfolio during inflationary economic conditions. That’s important in today’s economic environment as stubborn inflation continues to weigh on the value of the dollar.
- Portfolio diversification: Gold’s price doesn’t always move in the same pattern that bonds or stocks do. So, mixing a reasonable amount of gold into your portfolio (up to 10% of your portfolio assets) as a diversifier could protect you from losses should one or more of your traditional portfolio assets fall in value. “If you have less than 5% – 10% of your net worth in commodities & FX (forex), you should absolutely consider adding exposure to gold and other precious metals,” says Vijay Marolia, money manager and managing partner at the wealth management firm, Regal Point Capital.
The bottom line
Gold’s price has fallen from recent highs – which may represent an opportunity to tap into growth ahead. However, gold isn’t simply a “buy while it’s low and sell while it’s a high” kind of investment opportunity. The commodity can also protect your portfolio from the stubborn inflation we’ve seen thus far in 2024 while acting as a diversification tool that could increase your risk-adjusted portfolio returns. So, consider adding gold to your portfolio today while it has the potential to grow in value.
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