The airwaves have been deep in negative slime for more than a month now. Voters are demoralized by the multi-million dollar ad-buys with run-of-the-mill announcers and grainy black and white pictures. Nearly all are so typical of campaigns, they have to be played two dozen times a day for people to finally listen them.
Bill Hillsman wrote about this fundamental problem with campaign commericals in his book, Run the Other Way. Political ads don't just compete with the other political ads on tv, they compete with every ad on tv. An ad should defy the preconceived notion of political ads, create buzz, and get people running to the tv to see it. The raspy-voiced announcers just don't cut it anymore -- especially after the state's been inundated with them for over a month.
Take this ad, played on Hardball yesterday, as an example of what Hillsman's talking about.
A running theme in Hillsman's ads are comedy. View some of his work here and here.
So I'm posting this thread as a place that we -- people who talk a lot about and consume campaign commericals -- can share and brainstorm ideas for ads for Bob Menendez. You know you've thought up at least one.
Here's a pretty good ad for Linda Stender going after an issue with Mike Ferguson that polls say is a real weak spot: embryonic stem cell research.
And, just to note, this is the best commercial in the history of commercials 'cause of the incredibly hot chick in the last frame. Amazingly, she married me!
Senator Menendez's newest ad goes after Tom Kean jr for colluding with a convicted criminal for his smear campaign:
Menendez's spokesman Matt Miller adds:
“Bob Menendez helped send corrupt politicians to jail, while Tom Kean, Jr. teams up with them while they’re still behind bars. Tom Kean Jr. keeps sinking deeper into the gutter, even after his attacks have been exposed as lies. The only thing he is proving is that he will say anything to distract for his pro-Bush, pro-war record and that he doesn’t have the character to be a United States Senator.”
At 38, he still looks like a choir boy. But he knows he can't win this race on the issues. So he's hired a team of consultants and turned his campaign into a snarling machine that would make Karl Rove proud.
To troll for dirt on Menendez, Kean's campaign has enlisted Chris Lyon, a political hit-man who was last seen fleeing New Hampshire after the attorney general there deemed his tricks too sleazy for the Granite State.
It seems Lyon was spreading rumors that the wife of a gubernatorial candidate in New Hampshire was a member of a cult that worshipped orgasms. That is not a joke.
Lyon has become pen pals with Robert Janiszewski, the former Hudson County executive who is now in prison on corruption charges.
Yes, Janiszewski is a liar with a grudge against Menendez. But Kean needs dirt, and he's not real fussy about the source.
In his latest broadside, Kean claims that a secretly recorded phone conversation reveals that a close ally of Menendez was "caught" using his name to "shakedown" a government contractor for a job.
Sounds pretty sinister.
But when you listen to this tape, you find no such thing.
"I listened to it several times, and it sounded pretty innocent," says Ed Stier, a respected corruption fighter.
People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
....
Tom Kean Jr. Stock fraud investigations. War profiteering in Iraq. Trading votes for corporate contributions.
No wonder he attacks his opponent. Pro-war, pro-Bush Tom Kean Jr.’s glass house of deceit is shattered.
Lots of video today. This latest ad from Senator Menendez will serve to remind voters that the Rove/Bush/Kean Jr smear machine lacks credibility.
"You put your hand on the bible and swear to tell the truth."
Announcer: "Bob Menendez helped send corrupt politicians and organized crime figures to jail. Prosecutors call Menendez courageous, gutsy. He even wore a bullet proof vest. Bob Menendez was called a hero who stood up to a corrupt political machine."
Menendez: "I was threatened for taking on corrupt politicians, but you have to stand up for what is right no matter what. I'm Senator Bob Menendez and I approve this message"
This is Linda Stender's new television advertisement. It's pretty tough, and should remind all the independent pro-choice voters in the district why a vote for Mike Ferguson is a vote against freedom.
The Menendez campaign just released their first radio ad of the campaign which features audio from the Senator's primary night acceptance speech. This is what the campaign calls a "positive" ad. Uh huh. I guess by NJ politics standards it is. Transcript of the ad is below. Click to play:
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