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Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Politics The Newest Anti-McGinn Ad

Posted by Dominic Holden on Tue, Oct 20, 2009 at 4:06 PM

Yesterday we talked to Joe Mallahan's mayoral campaign to ask what the new attacks on McGinn will sound like, since McGinn abandoned his trademark opposition to the tunnel. Now we know what it looks like:

My two bucks worth: The more Mallahan's campaign talks about McGinn's willingness to let the tunnel proceed, the more it hurts Mallahan. The tunnel issue has been holding back scads of potential McGinn supporters. So no matter how he spins this issue, Mallahan is just letting his supporters and undecided voters know that they have permission to back McGinn. After all, McGinn and Mallahan have the same-ish position on this subject now. And McGinn has proven more knowledgeable about city issues, more affable in debates, and more articulate in sharing a vision for Seattle's future. Removing the tunnel lets all those other assets shine.

Comments (18) RSS

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Meh. I guess it isn't terrible for a thrown-together ad. It's telling that it has 2.5 stars on YouTube.

Posted by Matt the Engineer on October 20, 2009 at 4:11 PM

Hahahaha, whut.

Posted by Baconcat on October 20, 2009 at 4:14 PM

Too long.

Posted by J.R. on October 20, 2009 at 4:14 PM

Did Mallahan hire Karl Rove? Why does the Mallahan campaign only seem to know how to call people names?

Posted by Your Name Hear on October 20, 2009 at 4:14 PM

I almost got bored in the middle and turned it off, and I spend at least an hour a day reading about local politics.

Posted by JaketheSnake on October 20, 2009 at 4:16 PM

Dumb move Mallahan. I'm glad I voted McGinn. At least I know during this terrible project McGinn will work his hardest to keep it on budget and as safe as possible for the environment.

Posted by Simply Me on October 20, 2009 at 4:25 PM

That is a really boring ad. It feels like people will tune out before the ad gets to the reversal and make it seem like Mallahan is just out of touch.

Posted by Enigma

on October 20, 2009 at 4:30 PM

The record skipping noises and haunted house music make this seem like a horror trailer. Appropriate for Halloween, I guess?

Posted by Mattini on October 20, 2009 at 4:38 PM

Nice campaign tactic, Joe. Worked great for Nickels. Remember this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGztMx3gu…

Posted by vagabond0079 on October 20, 2009 at 4:40 PM

It's as if a judo master, with 20 major issues he has well-thought-out position papers on, suddenly removed resistance as his attacker, Mallahan, tried to attack him at the most obvious location.

LOL.

Posted by Will in Seattle

on October 20, 2009 at 4:41 PM

Really not a good ad. Just boring and falsely dramatized.

Posted by Juan on October 20, 2009 at 4:43 PM

McGinn http://www.flickr.com/photos/soggydan/40…

Posted by soggydan on October 20, 2009 at 5:29 PM

I agree with the sentiment here. This ad is just odd. Slow, no punch, strange choice of music, becomes silent for too long in the middle with nothing but text.

I hope they spend a ton of money on it! :-)

Posted by Timothy on October 20, 2009 at 6:37 PM

@4 what are you talking about "call(ing) people names"? The only name used for McGinn in this ad is "McGinn."

But yeah, a really boring ad.

Posted by YeahMeToo

on October 20, 2009 at 6:37 PM

hahahahaha sometimes u gotta love that mallahan guy.... he's so bellevue it's funny!

Posted by montgomery sun on October 20, 2009 at 7:14 PM

I agree with the Slog, even though Mike McGinn abandoned the centerpiece of his campaign and undermined his legitimacy as a leader - it's a win for McGinn!

If Mike were caught choking Labradors to death at the dog park The Stranger would find he was "generously donating pet control skills to the city of Seattle".

McGinn is tanked, Holden. Put that in your hackysack and kick it around the conference room.

Posted by Holden on me on October 20, 2009 at 7:21 PM

McGinn's statements speak for themselves. Saying he's "lying" is too negative and that will backfire in play nice Seattle. Better to say Mike doesn't support his own ideas. How can he support yours?

Posted by Zander on October 20, 2009 at 7:23 PM

Clearly everyone who comments on here has so much bias they can't see straight. I'd say the ad is effective in the sense that it connects the dots at the end: is the guy lying now, or was he lying before? This is no minor issue flip-flip'-- the tunnel issue is the whole reason his campaign had traction in the primaries. So it definitely makes you question his sincerity, in general. That said, I agree with the previous comment that "lying" is a very strong word and that could undermine some of this ad's effectiveness.

Posted by ian on October 20, 2009 at 8:27 PM