Joe Donnelly's ax-swinging campaign ad veers into 'Veep' territory

The campaign ad begins outside, the candidate clad in outdoor wear, chopping wood on a stump.

It is a work of fiction, a fake advertisement for a character, Jonah Ryan, in the HBO show “Veep,” starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

But this week, Sen. Joe Donnelly, a Democrat in the midst of a tough reelection fight in Indiana, released his own campaign ad that was curiously similar to the TV show’s fictitious “Jonah Ryan for Congress” clip.

As in the ad from “Veep,” Donnelly stands outdoors, holding an ax in his hands, using wood chops to emphasize his campaign talking points, which are peppered with woodcutting metaphors.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/10/19/veep-jonah-ryan-ad-or-joe-donnelly-ad-senator-chops-wood-video-compared-parody/?utm_term=.cd3a199a134b