As the Rocky Mountain News reports:
The Democratic Party fired one of its first salvos at Republican Bob Schaffer with a Web campaign ad that pokes fun at the former congressman and accuses him of ducking key Colorado issues.
Schaffer is vying against Democratic Congressman Mark Udall for the Senate seat that will be vacated by Republican Sen. Wayne Allard in 2008, and he has come under criticism from his opponent’s campaign that he hasn’t publicly taken positions on some key issues.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee called the Web ad “The Disappearing Act,” which will be featured on the new Web site BobSchafferontheIssues.com.
Udall’s staff was consulted by the committee that it would be producing the piece and they were shown a script, Mike Melanson, Udall’s campaign manager, said.
Melanson said the new ad is simply a sign that Udall and the Democrats are taking off the gloves in response to what they charged were misleading television attack ads produced by Republicans against Udall.
“The tone for the race was set by these guys,” Melanson said of the GOP. “We’re certainly not going to sit on our hands.”
What’s most interesting to us is how all of these early YouTube ads–the “Cuban Hero” PAC ads against Udall, this response from the DSCC, and even local troublemakers at Progress Now who weighed in with a short video of their own last week–have seemed more interested in “being first” with a video spot than good production quality. None of these seem very compelling messagewise, although the DSCC spot is a little slicker than the rest.
Our advice would be for both sides to take a deep breath and focus on quality over quantity. There will be lots of time for video next year, and if an ad is worth doing it’s worth doing well.
You must be logged in to post a comment.
BY: JohnNorthofDenver
IN: Gov. Polis Rolls Out Welcome Mat For Florida’s Spurned LGBTQ+ Tourists
BY: JohnInDenver
IN: Friday Open Thread
BY: 2Jung2Die
IN: Gov. Polis Rolls Out Welcome Mat For Florida’s Spurned LGBTQ+ Tourists
BY: 2Jung2Die
IN: Friday Open Thread
BY: MichaelBowman
IN: Friday Open Thread
BY: MichaelBowman
IN: Friday Open Thread
BY: MichaelBowman
IN: Friday Open Thread
BY: JohnNorthofDenver
IN: Russia Ready To Process Your MAGAsylum Claims, Says Alex Jones
BY: Pam Bennett
IN: Gov. Polis Rolls Out Welcome Mat For Florida’s Spurned LGBTQ+ Tourists
BY: JohnNorthofDenver
IN: Friday Jams Fest
Subscribe to our monthly newsletter to stay in the loop with regular updates!
Looks like next year’s booby prize candidate will be Nowhere Bob.
Bring it on!
Here’s the DSCC “Bob Schaffer: Disappearing Act” ad itself:
http://www.bobschafferontheiss…
Would be more effective if… Bob was a currently elected official and supposed to be active on those issues. As it stands Bob is involved on the state board of education… and is VERY involved with THOSE issues.
Fortunately I think most people in Colorado who are paying any attention to political ads at this time during the cycle are also extremely cognizant of the fact that Bob has no authority to be involved in most if not every aspect of this attack ad. And more pointedly, Udall is responsible for aspects of each of these items and in the minds of most Coloradans has NOT been an effective advocate for responsible action.
You don’t need to be in office to have an opinion on something, for crying out loud. And I don’t think he can get away with being a candidate for the US Senate and then dodge an issue by saying he isn’t an elected official. (I hope he tries though.)
Schaffer has really screwed himself by not having the courage to take a stand on the Pinon Canyon issue: http://www.springfieldcolorado…
Bob is calculating that if he keeps his Radical Right politics under wrap for as long as possible, he’ll be able to withstand the damage from those saying he’s no where to be found on important Colorado issues. That’s a pretty common strategy on both sides, but the claim that the public somehow doesn’t want to hear what Bob actually thinks because he’s not in office is a pretty thin argument.
Twas brillig has it right, He is running for US Senate for Christ sakes !
Arguing that his silence on those issues most important on the state is OK because he’s not a CURRENTLY elected official (albeit a PREVIOUS one and hopes to be a FUTURE one) is so completely both ways somewhere right now Beauprez is shedding a tear of joy.
Bob is not ducking any issues. Just go to his website http://www.bobschafferforsenate.com and you can see Bob’s stand on
any issueoops… there’s a… well… oh. No issues.Ok, well on review I think we have to now say, the above quote is still totally off-base. Because Bob is not ducking “key Colorado issues”, he’s ducking all issues, Colorado and elsewhere.
So take that Democratic party – you’re wrong!
But remember Dave, it should be, “take that Democrat party”
I’m a member of The Democratic Party. I keep hearing about a Democrat Party too but I don’t really know anything about it.
is a nice touch. Very Colbert-esque.
This is actually quite amusing. A few days ago when the ads were first released there was great jest being made by the left wing pundits as to the supposed ineffectiveness of the ads. The production quality was bandied about as being too low, blah blah blah.
How can you measure an effective attack? Well the counter-attack is one good method. (Sun Tzu anyone?)
Colorado’s own liberal Mark Udall declares himself a friend of the environment and stands with the groups opposed to drilling in Colorado but then in a move of hypocrisy, proposes oil drilling in the waters of Cuba. Say what you want about the advertisment… it’s a fair question and a difficult one for Udall to defend.
And the “Department of Peace?” In case people forget… we ARE at war and there are real security risks and real lives in jeopardy. Unfortunately our enemies don’t share our desire for peace through negotiation and compromise. Read the Koran if you don’t understand or agree with that premise.
Bottom line here? These attacks – whatever you personally think about them – must have hit a chord somewhere. Bravo.
i think it’s safe to assume that an attack ad where you can barely make out what they are saying through fake accents is not effective. I doubt it hit a chord, it think it just signaled that the timeline has moved up, and it’s time to go to air.
but seriously come next summer we are all going to be so sick of tv ads.
I went years without watching anything other than election results, I think. I could be doing something worthwhile like reading or Pols or drinking. 🙂
I do watch some TV now with my folks, family time as it were.
An ad now sits on YouTube and is available 24/7 from now till election day – so it’s a lot more useful than a commercial that would be run for a week and that was it 2 years ago.
We’re going to see more and more of this.
Haven’t bothered looking at the Udall ad, but happened to see the “two white guys in Cuban-face” ad and my response was: “Huh? I can’t understand a word they’re saying.” Honestly, the production values were so poor I simply could not make out what they were saying in their thick “Speedy Gonzales” accents.
PS: Has anyone tried to poll how this ad played with Latinos generally? The Republicans seem dead-set on alienating every Latino voter this year, putting any hope they have on returning to the majority “In Mortal Peril” (to quote Tancredo).
The PEW Hispanic Center recently put out a study, as highlighted by the RMN, that Hispanics are fleeing the Republican Party. In Colorado Hispanics make up 12% of the voters, which can swing an election outcome.
I can only guess that this type of race-bating ad (propelled by Tom Tancredo’s antics) further pushes hispanics away from Republicans.
Hispanics had historically registered as Independents, and a new poll released shows Udall leading among Independents, Women and solidifying his Democratic base.
Your guess is as good as mine, but I do not think this ad helps BS’s non-existent campaign.