Does a Bear Wolf in the Woods?

There's a decent amount of buzz about the Bush campaign's new "Wolves" ads. I'll be honest: I don't get it. Yeah, the wolves are a cool visual, but the substance of the ad is pretty thing gruel. Yes, Kerry proposed cutting intelligence spending after the first World Trade Center attack. Yes, weakness invites attack from those waiting to do us harm. And? We've heard all this before. I guess what I'm trying to say is that the ad has good visuals, but the script could have used another couple of revisions. This could have been one of the great political ads of all time; instead it's just OK. But then again: I'm not a swing voter, or a base voter contemplating not voting, so the ad wasn't directed at me - what do I know?

The Daily Recycler has a clip of the ad, and of the 1984 Reagan "Bear in the Woods" ad on which "Wolves" was presumably based. I'd never seen "Bear in the Woods" before (remember: I was 3 during the 1984 election). I really like it: it's got a wacky Zen-like quality. The ad begins "There's a bear in the woods..." and ends "If there is a bear?" Cosmic.