Campaign Trail

Pass Health-Care Bill for the Dying Children

Organizing for America Names Winner in Ad Competition

Posted by Ken Wheaton on 11.17.09 @ 05:47 PM

If you can count on the Republicans to scare the bejeezus out of you with bombs and vaguely threatening foreigners, you can also count on the Democrats to trot out some cute kids to basically say that if health-care reform isn't passed they will die and, in the process, bankrupt their parents. That's the message at the heart of the winning entry in the Organizing for America Health Reform Video Challenge (see below). It was created by Eric Hurt and is called "I Deserve Health Care." According to the release from David Plouffe, "The winning video shows that our supporters' creativity and passion is more than a match for the slick ads and partisan spin doctors on the other side."

Health-Care-Debate Advertising Runs Risk of Overexposure

Can Consumers Find One Clear Signal in $100 Million Worth of Noise?

Posted by Evan Tracey on 09.16.09 @ 03:06 PM

Evan Tracey

As health-care ad spending nears $100 million and the president makes his rounds on most of the talk shows, is it possible that the American media consumer is on the verge of a health-care overload? Now I know between cable TV, Facebook and a good book (on your Kindle, of course), there are plenty of ways to escape this media onslaught, but it's getting harder to do so and soon may become impossible.

Agency Creative Wants to Teach Congress to Read

Pledge Drive, Ad Effort Strive to Get Politicians to Actually Read Bills Before Voting

Posted by Ken Wheaton on 09.14.09 @ 04:38 PM

It would seem to be the most obvious law in the land (or at least common sense), that the chuckleheads toiling away in Congress would actually have to read bills before voting on them. It's the least we could expect for things that dictate our rights and spend kaschmillions of our tax dollars. Sadly, that's not the case. But Mark DiMassimo, CEO-creative director of DIGO/DiMassimo Goldstein, and Eric Yaverbaum, have launched something called ReadtoVote.org.

The simple mission is to "convince every member of the House and Senate to sign a 'ReadtoVote' pledge, agreeing never to vote on any bill before personally reading and understanding every word of it." Boy, good luck with that one! And I say this as someone who firmly believes this is probably the smartest pledge drive to hit the interwebs since the interwebs was invented.

DiMassimo and Yaverbaum were responsible for the earlier "Tappening" campaign (not to be confused with the Droga5 Tap project). This time around, they say they have a $750,000 marketing and advertising budget. Aside from the website, the first big stunt is recruiting 1,018 people to write the pages of America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 on the steps of the Capitol building, one page at a time.

Considering the bill changes on a daily basis and neither party really seems to know what's actually in it, that should be interesting.

Hutchison Camp Uses SEO to Call Rick Perry 'Gay'

Political Marketing Sullies Everything It Touches

Posted by Ken Wheaton on 07.31.09 @ 10:58 AM

Note to politicians: It's hard for people to prove you're behind sleazy brochures stuck under windshields or ads funded by outside groups. It's not so hard to bust your sleazy tactics on your own website. PEOPLE CAN READ YOUR SOURCE CODE!!!

Will a New Harry and Louise Return to Airwaves This Fall?

One Series of Ads Helped Derail Health-Care Reform Last Time Around

Posted by Evan Tracey on 07.20.09 @ 06:00 AM

The parents of modern issue advocacy advertising, Harry and Louise, could be poised to make yet another comeback in a new campaign promoting a national health-care agenda. It is fitting that the power couple of advocacy make their return in this latest round of health-care reform, even if they take a different point of view than they did in the 1990s. Without them, this debate would be like having Thanksgiving dinner without your crazy uncle.

Google Starting to Believe Its Own Political Hype?

Company Claims Victory in Va. Gubernatorial Primary

Posted by Michael Learmonth on 06.10.09 @ 04:12 PM

No one gave little-known state legislator R. Creigh Deeds much of a chance in the Democratic primary for Virginia governor. He was up against well-known Democratic operative and former DNC chairman Terry McAulliffe and Brian Moran, a well-known legislator and brother of Virginia Congressman Jim Moran.

Liberal Bloggers to Dems: Advertise With Us. Or Else

They Drop Journalism Guise, Start Acting Like Media Owners

Posted by Ken Wheaton on 04.09.09 @ 03:20 PM

Hoooo Boy! It doesn't get much more brazen than this. According to Greg Sargent:

Some of the leading liberal bloggers are privately furious with the major progressive groups -- and in some cases, the Democratic Party committees -- for failing to spend money advertising on their sites, even as these groups constantly ask the bloggers for free assistance in driving their message.

Or, as Gawker put it, Left-Wing Blogs Try on Extortion as Business Model.

Is President Obama Putting Too Much Too Soon on the Brand?

With Responsibility Comes Risk, but Also Greater Rewards (and Re-Election)

Posted by Evan Tracey on 02.25.09 @ 11:09 AM

It's been an interesting month in our nation's capitol, and the Obama administration is hard at work addressing the country's problems. As with every first-term administration, its primary challenges are to engage lawmakers on Capitol Hill with its new policy agenda and assemble a team that will instill confidence in the American people. If they succeed, in four years they will be rehired. In essence, this process is the political equivalent of establishing the brand.

Obama Can't Sell Stimulus Without TV Ads

Campaign's Biggest Spender Is No Longer Using His Most Effective Weapon

Posted by Evan Tracey on 02.09.09 @ 12:14 PM

As President Barack Obama prepares to give his first prime-time news conference tonight to sell his economic stimulus package to the public, he finds himself fighting this political battle without one of his most powerful weapons: TV advertising.

Political Advertising: The Gift that Keeps On Giving

$47 Million Spent Since Nov. 4

Posted by Evan Tracey on 12.17.08 @ 11:05 AM

With the 2008 elections now in the rearview mirror, one would expect political and issue ad spending to take a break. Well, it has done anything but. Issue ad spending on federal and state policies has topped $42 million since Nov. 4. This, combined with the additional $5 million in runoff ad spending, makes the 2008 election the gift that keeps on giving.