Colorado’s BEST Political Ads (2014)

Colorado's BEST Political Ads (2014) Finalists:

1. "Joe Neguse for Colorado First Ad," Joe Neguse (D) for Secretary of State [30 Seconds]
If there was a better political ad in Colorado in 2014, we didn't see it. The first campaign spot for Joe Neguse was a simple affair, with the candidate speaking directly to the camera about making his first-ever political advertisement. Rather than asking for your vote in the ad, Neguse talks about his desire to improve the voting process for everyone in Colorado. There isn't much in the way of fancy production value in Neguse's ad — it wouldn't have been necessary, anyway — but this straightforward approach really worked because the script is well-written and Neguse has the natural charisma to grab the viewer's attention. While not "technically" complex, this type of spot is much more difficult than it looks; some candidates either don't speak well in front of a camera or are working off of a script with too many buzzwords and rhetoric to make a connection with the audience. For Neguse, this ad came together perfectly.

2. "Nice Guy," Cory Gardner (R) for U.S. Senate [30 Seconds]
"I'm Cory Gardner, and I'm going to tell you something you've never heard in a political commercial. My opponent, Mark Udall, is a real nice guy." If you had to sum up the 2014 U.S. Senate race with just two sentences, these opening lines would work pretty well. Gardner is his cherubic self, appearing confident and likeable, and you immediately understand the double-meaning behind the "nice guy" statement (the implication, of course, is that Colorado needs a Senator who is more than just a "nice guy." The ad also does a terrific job of highlighting Gardner's Yuma roots as the son and grandson of tractor salesmen; you may have no idea what they are doing on the table in the background, but it seems homey and small-businessey. It is often said in politics that you must "make the case to fire" before you can "make the case to hire," and this ad does a great job of doing both while keeping the candidate likable.

3. "Deception II," NextGen Climate Action on Senate Candidate Cory Gardner [2 Minutes]
It's difficult to compare TV ads of different length, but a good TV ad should be strong no matter the running time. This 2-minute ad from NextGen Climate is 4 times longer than a typical 30 second spot and was drafted as the second of a three-part series of ads highlighting the "deception" of Cory Gardner. What the series does really well (and with this ad particularly) is to take the "Gardner is anti-women" narrative a step further by showing how Gardner's inconsistencies on a number of issues are a challenge to his credibility in general. Where NextGen really succeeds is in making side-by-side comparisons of how Gardner's changing answers about Personhood and other issues reflect an attempt to deceive voters by muddying his positions. The anti-Gardner narrative should have evolved to this point much sooner, instead of getting bogged down on contraception (the campaign of Democrat Mark Udall never really made this final connection for voters). Regardless, NextGen hit a home run with these ads by letting the facts tell the story while rhetoric took a breather.