I didn't think the ad was so bad either. Amateurish, but not bad. Corruption is a huge problem in Alabama. I've got some extended family who live there.
I remember years back, the school systems desperately needed money for something or other, so they put a sales tax increase on the ballot. Nobody voted for the increase because they figured the schools wouldn't see much of it anyway. The politicians would just steal it all. Not a joke. I had a 65 year old woman tell me that while I was sitting at her kitchen table, eating some pie she had made. I told my uncle later, he was just like, "yeah, that's why I'm not voting for it."