It's still not 'Morning Again in America'

IT has become one of the classic political television commercials of all time, known for its opening line, "Morning Again in America".

The commercial was part of the 1984 re-election campaign of Republican President Ronald Reagan and was aimed at marketing to American voters the message that following years of economic downturn the American economy was back and kicking, thanks to the policies pursued by the incumbent president, and that America was - as the ad put it - "Prouder, Stronger, Better".

Featuring a montage of cheerful Americans going to work on a sunny morning, the narrator compared the sense of optimism about America and its expanding economy to the depressing mood of the American people on the eve of the 1980 presidential election that led to the defeat of Democratic President Jimmy Carter and the electoral triumph of the ex-Hollywood actor and former Republican Governor of California.