Continuing the trend of marriage amendment related commercials, here’s one from Arizona that even features John McCain. This commercial uses the most common tactic I’ve seen from amendment supporters: Fear.

The male announcer, with urgency in tone and drums beating in the background, begins:

Arizona is just one court case away from having a radically new definition of marriage

He then shares how judges in Massachusetts, New Jersey and Hawaii have ruled that gay marriage is ok.

At this point, the tone of the ad changes. The drums are gone, a piano begins to play and the announcer’s voice becomes less stern. He continues with the fact that Arizona voters “have a choice for something better” and that “marriage deserves to be protected.”

John McCain concludes the message asking voters to join him in voting yes on Arizona’s marriage amendment.

Even with John McCain, this ad falls short. While the message is strong on the fear front, it fails to address how the realization of that fear would impact Arizonans. Instead, the ad uses the same old tired argument that marriage needs to be protected. It may be this lack of connection with the audience that is partially to blame for the fact that Arizona was the first (and only) state in the nation that failed to pass such a measure (one has since passed).