A 30-second spot, the new ad features a diverse group of individuals sitting around a table rattling off a few of the many things that give St. Pete its cool factor.
A proliferation of dog parks? Check.
The snazzy revitalization of Beach Drive? Check.
All those trees? Check.
A young waitress says we have the mayor to thank for all that awesomeness — but not the one that's mayor now, but, like, the mayor that was mayor two mayors ago.
Cut to a newly hip-ified Baker, who smoothly rips his sunglasses off and smirks at the camera.
"You ain't seen nothin' yet," he says. "B-b-b-baby you just ain't seen nothin' yet!"
(Okay, maybe not the second part of the above quote.)
(He seems to also have rebranded his taste in sunglasses.)
The ad is an iteration of the kinder, gentler Baker candidacy that was marked last week with an overhaul of his website, logo and slogan. All are crafted in such a way that makes him appear a little more laid back, a little hipper, a little friendlier than the guy we all saw on the night of the primary, when, upset by his unexpected second-place ranking in the six-way mayoral primary, his speech got…shouty.
It may or may or may not work. Who knows?
Obviously, supporters of Mayor Rick Kriseman, the incumbent who beat him by 70 votes on August 29, are expressing skepticism, including the Florida Democratic Party (yes, this race is still partisan!), which sent out a written statement Monday decrying the rebrand…and, as one does if your dude is running against a Republican these days, they took the opportunity to tie Baker to Trump.
"No amount of re-branding can erase Rick Baker's failed GOP policies," said Florida Democratic Party spokesperson Johanna Cervone. "Moreover, major GOP and Trump donors are bankrolling Baker's campaign—and not for nothing. Baker is a staunch Republican, who campaigned hard for Sarah Palin and never once challenged Donald Trump for any one of his transgressions. Clearly, this is another misguided—and frankly—embarrassing attempt at hiding his Republican party affiliation. Mayor Rick Kriseman, on the other hand, has been clear about his stance on the issues: he is proud to be campaigning on a strong record of progressive accomplishments and proud to have the support of President Obama, Senator Bill Nelson and Democrats from across the state of Florida."
Baker, meanwhile, has tried to keep party politics out of an election that's sorta-kinda-but-not-really supposed to be nonpartisan.
This article appears in Sep 21-28, 2017.