Look, up in the sky: It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s…George Leventhal? At the outset of an online ad promoting his bid for county executive, the veteran member of the Montgomery County Council was depicted soaring like Superman and alighting a la Iron Man, as a deep-voiced narrator declared him “Avenger MoCo.” Emulating Clark Kent, Leventhal ripped off his dress shirt to reveal a T-shirt with a warning circle superimposed on Donald Trump’s likeness. “George will stand up to the Orange One!” the announcer intoned. A recitation of Leventhal’s résumé and policy platform was accompanied by a kickboxing move—before the candidate concluded by acknowledging, “I’m not a superhero.” The mere-mortal Leventhal ended up an also-ran in last June’s Democratic primary, but not before scoring some points. Long regarded in political circles as a dour personality prone to flashes of temper, Leventhal’s ad showed a lighter side. And in an era when attack ads have become a campaign staple, his efforts at lighthearted persuasion won widespread praise. One post on his Facebook page read, “This is how all political advertisements should be.”
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