Bernie Sanders releases ‘inspiring’ new ad featuring Simon & Garfunkel

Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vt., released a new ad for his presidential campaign on Thursday that features Simon & Garfunkel’s 1968 song “America.”

One political ad maker who has worked on Democratic presidential campaigns and asked to remain anonymous because he did not want to be seen as taking sides in the primary told Yahoo he thought Sanders’ commercial was “beautiful” and “stirring.”

The Sanders campaign announced the ad, which you can see above, in a press release on Thursday. It features images of voters at Sanders rallies, scenes of life on farms, young people working, and the skyline in Des Moines, Iowa. It will begin airing on Friday in Iowa and New Hampshire.

“‘They’ve all come to look for America,’ sing Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel in their classic folk rock anthem as faces flash on the screen of people backing Bernie’s insurgent campaign for president,” the campaign’s announcement said. “In Iowa alone, Sanders has spoken to more than 40,000 people at rallies and town halls since his campaign began last spring.”

Tad Devine, a senior advisor on the Sanders campaign, told Yahoo that his firm, Devine Mulvey Longabaugh, crafted the ad.

The Democratic ad maker, who talked to Yahoo, gave the commercial rave reviews.

“I think it’s beautiful. I’m a sucker for a well-scored spot, and when you’ve got permission to use a stirring track like ‘America,’ you’re off on the right foot,” he said.

Art Garfunkel and Paul Simon are not listed among the celebrities who have endorsed Sanders. Spokespeople for the Sanders campaign told CNN that the song “was properly licensed.” Garfunkel and representatives for Simon did not respond to requests from Yahoo about whether they personally approved the use of their song and would be backing Sanders.

This new commercial comes as Sanders has gained ground in polls of voters in Iowa, which is the first state to vote in the primary, against frontrunner Hillary Clinton. Sanders has maintained a lead over Clinton in polls of New Hampshire, the second state on the primary calendar, for months.

The ad maker who did not wish to be named told Yahoo the commercial strikes the right tone for Sanders in the final weeks leading up to voting in Iowa and New Hampshire.

“It’s smart of the Sanders campaign to provide a little inspiration at the end of the campaign’s first rounds,” the ad maker said. “It reminds me of John Edwards’ final Iowa ad from 2004, where there was no voiceover, just text on the screen intercut with inspiring music.”

He also predicted the ad could help Sanders confront critics who attempt to paint his self-described “democratic socialist” politics as too unconventional for voters.

“By using iconic American imagery, it also inoculates Sanders against attacks of him being too ‘different’ to be president,” the ad maker said. “Some will say that it’s a mistake to close the Iowa campaign with a spot that lacks substance, but Sanders isn’t viewed as a policy lightweight — so it’s not as risky for him.”

Sanders has a personal connection to folk music. He recorded a short folk album in 1987 when he was mayor of Burlington, Vt.