It’s morning again in America. The theme ad is not even original; the “Morning in America” theme was used by Ronald Reagan during the 1984 election campaign. While the Reagan ad showed the wonderful things the president achieved during his first term, the Rubio ad highlights how much the United States has declined under Barack Obama. The ad criticizes the high rate of unemployment, the mounting debt, and the high rate of taxes. The ad concludes by saying, “Under the leadership of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, our country is more vulnerable, divided and diminished than ever before. Why would we ever want four more years again, of that?”
There is another major difference however between Reagan’s “Morning in America” ad and Rubio’s “Morning Again in America.” No one ever accused the Gipper of using a Canadian city or a Zimbabwean city for that matter, for an American one.
The video opens with a shot of a harbour with the skyline of a city in the background. As the Vancouver Sun reports, there are unmistakable landmarks in the skyline that show the city is Vancouver, British Columbia. The Harbour Centre and the One Wall Centre can be seen as well as some Port Metro Vancouver cranes. Although many media reports indicated Vancouver “may” have been used, those in the know have no doubt which city was used in the opening of “Morning Again in America.”
If you look closely at the tugboat, a Canadian flag can be seeing flying from the boat.
Guy Chavasse, a Vancouver videographer, told CBC he shot the skyline video from a North Vancouver tower last summer. He works as a freelancer and posts his videos and photos online on stock sites. He is not sure but estimates the Rubio campaign paid about $80 for the rights to use of the clip.
Chavasse also said while he is no fan of Rubio or the Republicans he has no objection to the Rubio campaign using the shot. He said he very rarely gets to see his work being used and finds this particular use of his work quite humourous.
The Washington Post reports the Rubio campaign said the use of Vancouver was “unintentional.” There is no word whether the ad will be pulled.
