The Constitution Convention Coalition has worked with the Connecticut Catholic Conference to produce a TV ad in favor of the Constitutional Convention.

I like that the ad features a positive message.

It is a marked contrast to the “Vote No” ad featuring Attorney General Blumenthal. The “Vote No” ad makes extensive use of the bandwagon effect and appeals to authority in a manner that is insulting to our intelligence. Basically its message is “Come hang out with the cool kids. If that’s not reason enough, you should listen to the superior intelligence of Dick Blumenthal.

The “Vote Yes” ad is far more effective… it uses “apple pie” imagery to present a positive message. The “Vote No” ad presents a negative message in a manipulative manner. I have to say that this kind of manipulation is a real dud to the under-30 crowd. As someone at the vanguard of Generation Y, I can attest to the fact that we have spent most of our lives life being marketed, advertised, manipulated, and lied to. The consequence is that we’ve become rather savvy consumers of media who can see through the tactics employed so ham-handedly in the “Vote No” commercial.

In my discussions with folks older than me, they have indicated that they dislike the “Vote No” ad for its negative message.

Of course, the reality is that these ads are being funded and sponsored by the public employee unions, Love Makes a Family, and Planned Parenthood. They are all afraid that direct initiative will greatly weaken the legislature-lobbyist power structure currently in existence.

The poster child for their nightmare is Massachussets, which has a full-fledged tax revolt on its hands. Some years ago, Massachussets successfully ratified, Proposition 2.5, which capped local property tax increases at 2.5%. This year Massachussets residents vote on a measure to eliminate the state income tax. Of course this is doomsday for the public employee unions… it ends the party spending atmosphere regnant in state legislatures.