First off, here’s the new ad from the Republican Governors Association.
The good?
- It’s a substantive $250,000 buy. People will see it.
- It’s produced by the RGA, not John Kasich. That’s important for two reasons. One, Kasich is spending any of his cash for it. Two, it still allows Kasich the opportunity for his first ad to be a quality, positive introductory piece, rather than a retread, lame attack ad. :cough: TED STRICKLAND! :cough:
- It’s the first time Ohioans are hearing a repeated and clear message about the level of job loss in Ohio. They all know about it in their personal lives, but hearing the 400k number helps voters understand just how bad it is out there.
- The RGA found a time-effective way to communicate the troubling nature of Troopergate.
- No matter what, Ted went negative first. This ad, and surely others to come, will highlight that. One of the few good things going for Ted is his supposedly nice-guy image. This hurts him.
- Last I heard, the RGA has nearly five times the amount of cash on hand as the DGA. Think we’ll be seeing more commercials pounding Ted? Yep. Think the DGA can afford a response? Nope.
The negative?
- This is supposed to be a Dad and his daughter, but that’s never established. I spent half the time wondering why there were sitting together.
- “Cuz he sure didn’t get the jobs done.” Jobs done? Really? It’s just too cute by half. No one talks like that. Rather than getting the double entendre, people are going to go away wondering if he misspoke.
- I’d have preferred seeing more frustration from the actors, rather than depression. But hey, that’s just getting picky.
Overall? I give it a B. While there are a couple things wrong with it, it still does the most important thing – convey the message that the Governor has failed.
In a referendum election, which this is, that is the most important message to convey.
Now let’s start hitting him on “Turnaround Ohio”.
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