Ad watch: 'Keep Monzel on City Council'

AD: "Keep Monzel on City Council," a 30-second television ad for Republican Chris Monzel. Starts today on Time Warner Cable, next week on broadcast. Producers: John Colmar and Alfonso Wesson of Zone Communications.

SCRIPT: Male announcer: "Every day, 11 people move out of the city of Cincinnati. In just four years, we will have less people than Toledo. Since 2001, over 300 citizens have been murdered. Chris Monzel is fighting to save our city. He's standing up for our police and our families. He's working to restore law and order by placing more cops on our streets. And Chris Monzel is fighting for stronger neighborhoods, with lower taxes and better schools." Monzel: "I'm Chris Monzel, and I'm running for the city of Cincinnati, not from it."

VISUALS: In black-and-white, a family drives out of town in a moving van as "For Sale" signs pass by. A crime scene appears in the van's rear-view mirror. In color, Monzel enters, talking to police and citizens in Winton Place. Key phrases appear: "Everyday 11 people move from Cincinnati." "In just four years, we will have less people than Toledo." "Over 300 citizens have been murdered." "Endorsed by Cincinnati police." "More police." "Stronger neighborhoods." "Councilman Chris Monzel." "Keep Monzel on City Council."

FACT CHECK: The ad contains no egregious misstatements, but there is some imprecise language. According to the most recent U.S. Census estimates, the city is losing population at an average rate of 11 people a day. But they're not all leaving in moving vans -- some are going out in hearses. There have been 335 homicides reported in the city since Jan. 1, 2001, but not all were murders -- that figure includes cases of manslaughter, police shootings and justifiable homicides.

STRATEGY: Appointed to a council seat in 2001, Monzel won election later that year with a campaign that featured warm-and-fuzzy ads showing an undeniably photogenic family. He ran a similar campaign in 2003 -- and lost. "He went the warm-and-fuzzy route again and people had already seen it," Xavier University political scientist Gene Beaupre said at the time. "He needed something substantive that said, 'This is who I am, and this is what I will do." This is that ad.