See them here. Frankly, I don’t like the way he’s communicating his Iraq message. Too focused on simultaneously promoting his (considerable) diplomatic credentials and his position on the war. Too much for one ad.
Whichever Dem that says “I’ll end the war and bring the troops home to defend America” will have hit on the right formula.
They’re both rather old school ads. It’s not about personality or vision or hope or crap like that, it’s about accomplishment, a tangible platform, and thinking about issues. In other words, they would have been effective 40 years ago, but won’t have a big impact today.
You may be right in that whoever says “I’ll end the war and bring the troops home to defend America” will have hit on the right formula, but I think a finer distinction is in order. Basically it is whoever can sell their solution to the majority of the country and then have the smarts to clean up to the mess Bush has wrought once in office. The public is too gullible for wonk speak to have much effect. The public needs itty bitty soundbites it can remember once in the voting booth.
For republicans the issue is not whether you can be president but whether you can play one on TV (see: Fred Thompson).
I like to think the democrats are wiser, but it’s hard to tell sometimes.
Oliver: Your points are quite valid! Please communicate your views on these ads directly to Gov. Richardson.
campaign: amanda@tashmoo.com
Amanda Cooper, his Deputy campaign mgr.
and to Eric Witt, Legislative Chief of staff:
eric.witt@state.nm.us.
or call his office at 505 827-3000. He deserves the benefit of your counsel, and will work your views into a reshaping of the ads. Am not part of campaign, but have a keen interest in its success.
Truly,
Stephen Fox
I will send you my take on Richardson shortly.
I don’t know, the thing with Richardson is he’s not got the celebrity appeal of the other democratic candidates and no amount of ads are going to change that. I think Richardson needs to play the solid against flashy. Think about it, the country is about sick of the all hat no cattle current president, 8 years of slogans, incompetence, elitism and cronyism. Having a candidate that can actually point to accomplishments and credentials could possibly play well.