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Wednesday, September 6, 2006

Two Campaign Ads and a Campaign Ad Dare

Posted by on September 6 at 15:55 PM

Mike McGavick keeps saying he wants to run a different kind of campaign…an issues oriented campaign that sets an example for political discourse. It’s a nice sentiment, but, rather than actually running an issues oriented campaign, McGavick seems to be running a campaign about running an issues oriented campaign—without ever talking about the issues.

It’s super fucking annoying.

Here’s his latest TV ad:

Mike: I look to the example of Senator John McCain because you see a person who doesn’t look to his party first for how to vote, but to the needs of his country and to his conscience. Sen. McCain: The American people are sick of the bitter, poisoned atmosphere that we have in our nation’s Capitol. And that’s why we need Mike, who understands that what the people of Washington want is people who work together for the common good. Mike: I’m Mike McGavick, and I approve this ad.

The one McGavick ad I heard that does talk about the issues (it was about the GOP trifecta bill), was pour and stir GOP. That’d be fine…if, of course, McGavick’s other big theme wasn’t….bipartisanship.

As I wrote last July, the bipartisanship theme is McGavick’s clever way of campaigning in a year when it’s not such a good time to be a Republican. It also helps him sidestep Cantwell, whose positions are pretty popular.

Here’s what I wrote last July after checking out McGavick’s stump speech:

Who’s the “we” that has to get more serious about veterans’ health care? President Bush and the Republicans who control Congress, that’s who. But McGavick doesn’t name them—he can’t name them. What he can do—what he is doing, while Cantwell is AWOL—is seize on public disgust with Bush and the congressional Republicans by attacking government in general. McGavick is running with the public’s foul mood rather than being forced to run against it—or even against Cantwell.

Anyway, here’s McGavick’s latest radio ad about transcending partisanship. You’ll note, he doesn’t say anything about Cantwell—nor does he say where he’d break with his own party.

Here’s his latest Radio Ad:

Mike: The partisan nonsense that is ruining our nation must stop, and we can help stop it this November.

Announcer: Mike McGavick, willing to stand up and say, “enough.”

Mike: To look to your party first to know how to vote, what a wrong-minded concept.

Announcer: Mike McGavick, the candidate for Senate who will fight to change the destructive culture in Washington, D.C.

Mike: You work with others to solve problems, with open hearts and open minds.

Announcer: Washington, D.C., needs a change and Washington state needs a new senator. A true Northwestern voice of common sense, Mike McGavick.

Mike: That’s the Northwest way of doing things, and that’s the kind of senator I will be.

Announcer: Republican Mike McGavick. Reformer. Problem solver. For U.S. Senate.

Join the fight for change at MikeMcGavick.com

Paid for by Friends for Mike McGavick.

Here’s my dare for McGavick’s next ad about bipartisanship. I want him to come on and cite three policies where he differs from the GOP and three policies where his position is similar to the Democratic position.


CommentsRSS icon

Don't hold your breath.

To be honest, the Rethugs have used this exact same playbook since Reagan - it's hardly a new or innovative tack for them. Basically, pretend you're nice and avoid saying anything specific.

Unfortunately, it works WAY too often.

Here's what I'd like to see Josh... I'd like to see just one McGavick supporter explain to me exactly what McGavick's legislative agenda is.

For a candidate running on "the issues," that should be easy, right?

It's not that they LIE.

It's that they keep REPEATING the LIES.

A post that doesn't mention specific issues asking a candidate to mention specific issues. Seems like journalism about spin, like a campaign ad about campaigning...

WF,
ooooooh, you told him.

When Republicans say "stop the partisan nonsense" they mean "adopt the Republican view, and stop fighting us". I'd much rather hear him be honest and say "I'm a conservative", but, as a weasel, those words never come. And THAT is the true "Northwest way" -- never saying anything of substance at all, just meaningless platitudes.

"Northwest way" -- never saying anything of substance at all, just meaningless platitudes.

....like The way Jean Godden campaigned against Judy Nicastro

...and won.

By pandering to a low-common denominator that won't think this through and will take his positive-spin at his word, he's actually scoring a ton of point with the common voter, a sad reality. Meanwhile, Cantwell's airing Generic Ads with "I'm Maria Cantwell and I Support This Message (hey, don't I sound like Dubya when I say that?)." tacked on at the end, which hurts her campaign by making her come across as the very type of distant, disinterested, complacent bureaucrat that McGavick claims to be a breath of fresh air from.

We know better, but most WA voters don't. Cantwell needs to switch things up, and quick, because McGavick is gaining a ton of momentum from these ads that Cantwell may not be able to recover from if she doesn't change her tune QUICK.

Also, to answer your question, Josh Feit... he doesn't have to explain shit to you, because you're just some political pundit for some alt-weekly paper with an audience of a few thousand. All he has to do is convince a few hundred thousand common folk throughout the state, who aren't going to do their research and realize he's full of shit, with 30 and 60 second soundbites.

And I mean that in the kindest sense. I actually respect your opinion. Just conveying the outlying POV.

Gomez: Ads with "I'm Maria Cantwell and I Support This Message (hey, don't I sound like Dubya when I say that?)." tacked on at the end

...Gomez, they're required by law to say that. The only thing Mike! says different is he calls it an "ad" and she calls it a "message".

To me she sounds like "I am Maria, destroyer of worlds, and I will fight the Republican slime nemesis." Sounds great.

FNARF, Alaskan Mike McGavick is NOT a conservative. Real conservatives don't support massive debt, wars of foreign adventure, increasing bureaucracy, shipping US jobs overseas, or incompetent administrations.

Let's be real - he can't even pretend to be a conservative.

Huh? I don't recall Mike McGavick tacking that onto the end of ads they appear in. Documented evidence of said requirement, plz. That sounds like a coverass response without it.

Gomez: please familiarize yourself with the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, wherein this requirement lies.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_approve_this_message.

gomez, it was part of mccain-feingold, section 308.

http://www.nationalcenter.org/McCainFeingold.html

if you haven't heard it since 2004, then you haven't been paying attention to campaign ads... and probably better for it.

Again, Jason, I don't recall McGavick's ads, in which he appears prominently, saying at the end, "I'm Mike McGavick and I support this message."

Also, it's a silly requirement, but that's neither here nor there.

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