Edgy Kashkari Ad

Carla Marinucci reports at The San Francisco Chronicle:

With a new TV ad that depicts a drowning boy, Republican gubernatorial candidate Neel Kashkari aims to make the case that Gov. Jerry Brown has “betrayed” California children.

The 30-second spot, called “Betrayal,” will start airing Tuesday in every media market in the state.

It shows a young boy drowning in a swimming pool. “When kids in failing schools begged Jerry Brown to save them, he betrayed them,” says the caption in the spot, as the child struggles underwater.

The ad shows Kashkari pulling the boy to safety and addressing the camera:

“I’m running for governor because every kid, in every neighborhood, deserves a good education and a chance for a better life. Jerry Brown betrayed our kids to protect his donors.”

Kashkari’s ad is playing off the recent Vergara v. California court decision, in which a Los Angeles judge found that the state’s system of teacher tenure violates the constitutional rights of children in poorer school districts by making it all but impossible to fire incompetent instructors.