Thomas Ravenel is quite the character on Southern Charm, isn’t he? He’s certainly lived through more than his 52 years would dictate. In 2004, Ravenel narrowly lost a runoff election for the United States Senate (Jim DeMint won and held that seat until 2013). He then became State Treasurer before he was busted on cocaine charges and sent to federal prison. Yikes, Tom. You win some and you lose some, you know? This season of Southern Charm showcases Thomas’ latest run for State Senator — an election Thomas lost this past November when he got only 4 percent of the vote. And that means we've got droves of Thomas Ravenel for Senate ads to pour over.
Now, I know Thomas was running against tenured Senator Lindsey Graham, which is an uphill battle any way you slice it, but perhaps some of his campaigning problems were not to do with the fact that he was a convicted felon, but because he didn’t know how to campaign. Thomas’ campaign ads were, well, pretty bad. Perhaps they were enough to turn even the most gleeful of Ravenel For Senate voters sour? With a stiff drink by my side (as is the Southern tradition), I found his advertising spots on YouTube and ranked the top five (there are so many) here, from worst to best:
5. “No Compromise”
I know this one is an Internet ad, but damn, this is way too long for any ad. It would even be too long if it were a Funny or Die video. I know people who won’t watch movie trailers that are longer than two minutes, and this one clocks in at like two minutes and change. Hire an editor, dude. Also, Thomas isn’t even looking at the camera in this one, so it comes across a little disingenuous and weird. It reminds me of Marco Rubio’s rebuttal to the State of the Union in 2013, i.e. “Water Bottle-Gate."
4. “Do They Know?”
I guess I sort of get what Thomas was going for in this ad (Are the people of South Carolina really aware of what their government is doing to them?), but he’s insinuating South Carolinians all too stupid to know what’s happening and making fun of your constituents isn’t really the way to go about making your point. There are too many thumbs up here. Also, why is “government” capitalized? Spell-check that text, Thomas!
3. “Fighting For Our Families”
This is the “I have kids, so I’m trustworthy” commercial, but, um, where is Kathryn here? Presumably, Thomas, you cannot bud like a hydra (#biologyprops) to reproduce, so there must have been another person to help out you having little Kensington right there. If he’s worried about family values voters being mad that he isn’t married to Kathryn, I think it’s weirder to just not have her in the ad and pretend she doesn’t exist, no? Also, how did Kensie sleep through that whole speech? What a ridiculously well-behaved baby.
2. “Dead End Road”
The title of this has literally nothing to do with the content. It’s about helping out soldiers after they return from war to give them the support they need to assimilate back into society, etc. Totally on board with that, Tom. This one is fine. It’s factual and to the point. He moves his hands so strangely — so stiff — but I’ll allow it. There are no thumbs up, at least.
1. “Government Overreach”
I only picked his one as the top ad because it’s funny, and funny isn’t something you see in politics all that often (at least not purposely). Does funny win? Of course it doesn’t. But it gets me a chuckle, and, because I make the rules of this list, that’s what matters. I want to know more about the “Tom Facts” here. If they’re already at 38, where are 1 through 37? I feel like I missed a lot here. Also, is that Whitney in the Uncle Sam costume?
Now that I’ve seen the ads for Thomas’ Senate run, I can’t wait to see how it all plays out on this season of Southern Charm. Mostly, I’m tuning in on Monday nights to see Thomas' adorable daughter, but that means I’m still watching, right?
Image: Brianna Stello/Bravo
