Political Advertising

To Americans of a certain age, and advertising junkies, the phrase "It's morning in America..." means Hal Riney's voice and the sunny optimism of Ronald Reagan's 1984 re-election campaign. Not anymore. Here's what we're getting from an organization called "Citizens for the Republic." Here is the original, written and voiced by Hal Riney: Citizens for the Republic, according to their website, has officers and …

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According to The New York Times, "Democratic candidates across the country are opening a fierce offensive of negative advertisements against Republicans, using lawsuits, tax filings, reports from the Better Business Bureau and even divorce proceedings to try to discredit their opponents and save their Congressional majority." "The Democratic ads are like a prosecutor's case, carrying no rebuttals or countervailing …

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Oregon Senator Ron Wyden is different. Like Oregon. I don't know that I believe outsider claims from any Senator, however well meaning. The deal with being a Senator is that you're actually the ultimate insider and you're going to use that influence in ways you and your constituents see fit. Anyway, the Wyden spot above is no great addition to the political advertising canon, I point to it because I'm forever …

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According to The Texas Tribune, 24 newspapers around the Longhorn state, ran a full-page ad yesterday with a picture of Gov. Rick Perry and the word "coward" in large, capital letters. Back to Basics PAC, the anti-Perry group behind the ad, did receive push back from one paper. Heart-owned Houston Chronicle opted not to run the ad. …

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Pamela Gorman is "Arizona's conservative choice for Congress," a fact she makes perfectly clear in the following commercial. I disagree with just about everything Gorman stands for, except for one thing. That one thing is the need to speak persuasively to one's best prospects. I don't know why candidates on the right have an easier time with this concept, but they do. Candidates on the left cloak their true feelings …

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Andrew Graff, chairman of Boston's Ad Club, writing in Adweek notes that Scott Brown won Ted Kennedy's Massachusetts Senate seat in a special election yesterday largely by portraying himself as a common man. Brown's ads showed him driving a pickup truck, amping up his Massachusetts accent and donning a barn jacket, like he was on his way to grab a Dunkin Donuts coffee and a Boston Herald before taking the T to work. …

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