Guillory goes for drama in first campaign TV ad

Most political candidates’ first television ads introduce them in the most upbeat way possible.

State Sen. Elbert Guillory, R-Opelousas, takes another route. The initial campaign spot in his bid for lieutenant governor invokes not only the name of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. but a slur that still starts fights.

In it, Guillory chats with an actor who portrays the civil rights leader, a registered Republican, in his prime. The two discuss a litany of problems: black unemployment, gun violence, high incarceration rates.

King, played by the Rev. C.L. Bryant, expresses hope that “at least we have some good Republicans to fight for us.”

Then the candidate raises the rhetorical ante.

The ad cuts to a stern looking black-and-white still photo of the late president Lyndon Johnson, who famously noted that by signing voting and equal accommodation rights for blacks into law, his Democratic Party would lose the white southern vote for generations.

In the archival audio Guillory uses in his TV ad, Johnson embellishes that point using a racial slur.

“We’ve got to give them a little something, just enough to quiet them down, not enough to make a difference. I’ll have them n------s voting Democratic for the next 200 years,” Johnson’s voice says before the image dissolves to a Guillory campaign logo.

It’s a provocative calling card for a statewide campaign.

The candidate’s son and namesake conceived and produced the 60-second ad for less than $10,000, Guillory said. It has not yet run on television stations beyond the New Orleans area. When it did during the weekend, it generated a lively back-and-forth on social media.

That’s exactly what Guillory wanted. In an interview Monday, he called the ad “an educational exercise” about what he regards as Johnson’s long-term plan to stall black progress.

“That bill of goods he sold not only to black America, but to white America,” he said. “We are one America and we are suffering as a result.”

Guillory maintains that anti-poverty and social welfare programs are designed to control, not assist, African Americans. The new ad is in line with that belief.

“People are talking about it,” he said. “Having the conversation is beneficial to us. By this, I’m giving America an opportunity to talk about race, using a simple word as the catalyst.”

Over the years Guillory has needled African Americans for habitually voting as Democrats, a pattern that’s remained consistent since Franklin Roosevelt introduced the New Deal during his first term as president.

Guillory, a longtime Republican, became a Democrat between 2007 and 2013 when he ran for state representative. In one YouTube video viewed more than 1 million times, he compared his political affiliation to that of abolitionist Frederick Douglass to explain his return to the Party of Lincoln.

He denied permission for the Daily World to link to the video of his latest ad.

Guillory faces Plaquemines Parish president Billy Nungesser and Jefferson Parish president John Young in the Republican primary. Kip Holden, mayor-president of East Baton Rouge Parish, is the only declared Democrat so far. Guillory and Holden are African American.

The field is wide open because incumbent Jay Dardenne is a Republican candidate for governor.

Political pollster and consultant Bernie Pinsonat, who has seen the ad, called it a very interesting appeal to black voters that “slams Democrats for doing nothing.”

He added, that however distinctive a TV ad might be, “content means nothing in a statewide race unless you have money to run it statewide.”

Nungesser has run for lieutenant governor before, and Young is based in the New Orleans metro area, the most populous in the state. Each has raised upwards between $1 million and $2 million for his campaign. Holden’s fundraising remained in below six digits and Guillory’s hovered closer to five.

Pinsonat figured that it would take at least $500,000 to purchase enough television ad time to make a lasting impression with Louisiana voters.

Guillory said he plans to do that — next in Monroe, then in Lafayette and eventually online.

“One of the things that I most stand for is truth, and I strongly believe in education,” he said. “You combine truth and education, and you get something like this.

“It is sobering and serious,” Guillory said, “and it gives us an opportunity to understand why some things are happening.”