I give you a tale of two TV spots, two rather different campaigns. Will Barclay is closing this campaign with yet another smear ad. Darrel Aubertine enters the home stretch with this one, "Jobs for a generation."
I guess the Barclay campaign just can't help themselves. They came out of the gate attacking and they don't seem to know how to do much else. At the third and final debate last week, Darrel Aubertine offered his hand to Barclay on an agreement that both candidates would cease all negative campaign efforts. This was not to be. Barclay seems incapable of actually making the case for himself, of telling people why he is a worthy choice for the 48th SD. Instead he can only bash his opponent while trying to make the case that his opponent is not a worthy choice. What's worse is that the attacks are becoming more and more desperate and bizarre. There was a truly breathless and hysterical press release from the Barclay campaign yesterday titled, "Notorious Drug Legalization Kingpin and Convicted Inside-Trader Funnels Cash to Aubertine". It reads as if it were written by Karl Rove's redneck meth-head nephew at the peak of a week long bender. Seriously, go read the thing. It's a hoot.
And now we have this new TV spot. In it, Barclay attacks Aubertine failing to abstain from votes on wind power while he was selling wind rights on his Cape Vincent farm. It's a stretch and it reeks of desperation. It's also complete and utter BS.
This is all you've got, Will? It's the Thursday before E-Day and all you've got in the tank is a half assed, utterly baseless attack about wind rights at the Aubertine farm? Are you serious, kid?
It's bad enough that the Barclay campaign has chosen to simply ignore that handshake. It's even worse that they continue to just fling poo against the wall looking for something sticky and stinky to stick with no regard for whether any of it is even remotely true.
It's nakedly desperate. It's dishonorable. And I think it's obvious that this style of campaigning isn't working for young Will. Bruno isn't getting his money's worth with the one note clowns running Barclay's show.
If only this race were to be decided on the quality of the candidate's campaign commercials. Our guy would win in a walk. Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way and I think we all realize what a tough race this going to be. That said, take a look at Barclay's new ad.
This really could be one of the worst ads for a legislative seat I've ever seen. When you add up the falsehoods, scaremongering, bad scary music and production values that were cutting edge in 1982, you get one pretty sad spot.
Also, contrast the tenor and content of the ads from the two candidates. Aubertine's ads are about the candidate, his accomplishments and how he's an excellent expression of the people of the 48th District. They are positive and they are about the future. They are about the concerns of the people who the winner of this race will represent.
Barclay's ads, with exception of the first one, a poorly produced bio/introduction ad and another about his family's roots in the 48th, are mostly about Aubertine and how he wants to do things that are scary, how he, a lifelong dairy farmer from the district, is somehow a tool of NYC pols who want to rob upstate blind. They aren't about why young Will is the best choice, but why Aubertine is definitely the wrong one.
Darrel Aubertine is on the air with a new TV spot today. It's called "I'm running for state Senate" and it just might be the best ad I've ever seen for legislative race. It's better than most ads being run by the presidential candidates.
Assemblyman Darrel Aubertine has just released his first campaign ad. Like his opponent's ad, he doesn't mention party, but from a purely production standpoint, it's simply a much, much better ad than Barclay's. Seriously. It looks really, really good and I think it's a hell of a first spot. Also note the tag line. Sound familiar? Take a look.
Your thoughts?
UPDATE: I should have known. As per Liz, the ad was produced by Jimmy Siegel's shop. Good stuff.
This is the ad Rudy hopes will save him in Florida. Azi says that the campaign will actually air this spot during the Super Bowl in Florida. This would be quite a bold move as the Florida primary is on January 29th and the Super Bowl on February 3rd.
Shorter version: "The media says my campaign is tanking. They are bad people. Super Bowl. Bad stuff. War. Be afraid. Help me, Florida-Wan-Kenobi. You're my only hope."
Republican Will Barclay is first on the air in the 48th state Senate District. It's a curious ad. It's not well produced and at times almost looks like a parody. Sure, my opinion is somewhat biased, but it also seems to be really poorly written. Take a look:
First of all, notice what's missing? At no point is Barclay's party affiliation mentioned or even alluded to. Instead, it almost seems as if he's running away from it. He's an "independent." This is odd given the significant GOP registration advantage in the district. Second, the rest of the copy is so stale it emits dust. "His values are our values." Um, OK.
Honestly, given he stakes here, I was expecting something more competent. Your thoughts?
In a new ad airing in Rudy's "firewall" state of Florida, Giuliani flogs 9/11 relentlessly. He also tries desperately to conflate the "Great War on Terra" with the actual Great War fought by many of the state's retirees. It's not pretty and it pretty much reeks of desperation.
Hoo boy. Talk about bad timing. A day after it was revealed that Rudy was using money meant for the disabled and indigent to pay visits to his then mistress and current wife, he debuts this TV spot. In it, he claims "I made government more accountable" before launching into a boilerplate attack on the Dem frontrunners over taxes. I f Rudy wants to run on making government accountable, something I'm all for, he should start with himself. He just invited everyone in the world do that as well.
Deep pocketed Republican challenger "Sandy" Treadwell is on the air in NY-20 already. He's begun airing this spot even though the election is a year away.
It's a competently made, if not fairly generic spot, and surprisingly good for a first effort, though the candidate himself is about as telegenic as bag of kitty litter. Also, it's true that residents in and around the 20th pay some of "the highest taxes in the nation" though the state and local governments are responsible for that distinction, not the feds. I'm not exactly sure what Treadwell would do about local property taxes from DC.
The White House on Tuesday assailed Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton for criticizing President Bush in her latest television ad, calling her statements "outrageous." The 60-second spot, which began running Tuesday in Iowa, intercuts scenes of the candidate interacting with voters and talking about challenges facing many working people.
...
White House deputy press secretary Dana Perino initially declined to comment on the ad, but then lambasted the spot and the senator.
"As to the merits of it, I think it's outrageous. This is a president who, first and foremost, has helped millions of seniors across the country have access to prescription drugs at a much lower cost," Perino said. "As to whether or not our troops are invisible to this president, I think that is absurd and that it is unconscionable that a member of Congress would say such a thing."
Happy to be in a debate with the White House, the Clinton campaign quickly linked to the official transcript of Perino's comments on its campaign Web site, www.hillaryhub.com, with the headline, "White House Attacks Hillary's New Ad."
Campaigning in Dubuque, Iowa, Clinton referred to the White House criticism of her "invisible" comments.
"Apparently I've struck a nerve. The White House just attacked me a few minutes ago," Clinton said. "Not only have I said it and am saying it, I will keep saying it because I happen to believe it."
OK, I'm sure everyone knows by now my friend Matt is working for Senator Dodd and all, but this really is a great ad. I'm going to be posting lots of ads from all the candidates as they come online much like MYDD's "adwatch" of last year. I'm curious to know what you think about this ad as well as others to be posted later. Me? I think this spot strikes a great tone, one very much in line with what the last year and a half or so of polls have told us about where the American public's mind is as regards President Bush. They are saying "This has gone on long enough. Stand up to this guy. Please."
By the way, I have not chosen a candidate for the primary and this posting, or any future posting of candidate ads should not be construed as an endorsement. OK?
