Oct. 9, 2010
The "Hick Ad": Is it Really an Issue?
Campaign 2010: The U.S. Senate Race
By Huntingtonnews.net Staff
By now, just about everyone who watches TV in West VIrginia has
seen the ad put out by the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC)
that showed three actors playing West Virginians in a diner, commenting
on why they were going to vote against Joe Manchin going to Washington.
The actors didn't portray West Virginians disrespectfully, however a "casting call" discovered a few days into the ad's run across West Virginia TV stations was discovered. That casting call showed that the producer of the ad wanted actors who could come across as "hicky" to the audience.
And so West Virginia was being seen again, at least in this producer's eyes, as a Land of Rednecks.
To their credit, once the NRSC learned of the producer's politically tone-deaf request, they yanked the ad off the television screens. In all likelihood, the Republican group was telling the truth when, in their embarassment, they said that they didn't know about this casting call. It was purely the work of the contractor they hired.
John Raese, for whom the ad was supposed to benefit, quickly condemned the ad, both personally and by his spokesman, as "a ridiculous ad."
"But Joe Manchin, who has been running on fumes for weeks now, with no issues to grasp, saw this as his big opening," said Jack Ellis, Huntingtonnews.net's senior political analyst. "True, in politics, it's good to capitalize on an opponent's mistake, but only if it really was the candidate's fault. This ad wasn't even produced by Raese's campaign, so I don't really see where Manchin thinks he's heading with this."
"With dragging out the poor union guys to protest and all the rest, what Manchin's overwrought response to this nonsense really proves is that the Governor really has no campaign left," said Ellis. "He's run no idea-oriented ads, they've all been personal attacks on Raese. But Raese's numbers just continue to go up."
"But Manchin still doesn't get the message from the public that they want something
positive from him, so he tries to whip Raese on this out-of-state ad," said Ellis.
"It's really rather laughable. Most people I've talked with in both parties are already
over this, and Manchin's trying so hard to give it legs. He still doesn't grasp that
people want some answers on jobs, Obamacare, and the size of government."
"Manchin's campaign has been run in the same fashion that you'd expect a junior high homeroom representative race to be run," said Ellis. "Manchin has tried to make it all about personality, and in the process, he's turned people off, even longtime supporters. Politicians get this way sometimes. They no longer care how others see them. But how can you win that way, you know?"
"This is the final coming full circle for Joe Manchin," said Ellis. "He used to try to run away from the image his Uncle A. James Manchin fostered, always grandly defending West Virginia's honor when nobody really asked him to do so. Manchin has no real issues this year, so if this is the best he's got, he's in for more falling polling numbers. West Virginians want a leader on the big issues of the day, not another A. James."
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The "Hick Ad": Is it Really an Issue?
Campaign 2010: The U.S. Senate Race
By Huntingtonnews.net Staff
By now, just about everyone who watches TV in West VIrginia has
seen the ad put out by the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC)
that showed three actors playing West Virginians in a diner, commenting
on why they were going to vote against Joe Manchin going to Washington.
The actors didn't portray West Virginians disrespectfully, however a "casting call" discovered a few days into the ad's run across West Virginia TV stations was discovered. That casting call showed that the producer of the ad wanted actors who could come across as "hicky" to the audience.
And so West Virginia was being seen again, at least in this producer's eyes, as a Land of Rednecks.
To their credit, once the NRSC learned of the producer's politically tone-deaf request, they yanked the ad off the television screens. In all likelihood, the Republican group was telling the truth when, in their embarassment, they said that they didn't know about this casting call. It was purely the work of the contractor they hired.
John Raese, for whom the ad was supposed to benefit, quickly condemned the ad, both personally and by his spokesman, as "a ridiculous ad."
"But Joe Manchin, who has been running on fumes for weeks now, with no issues to grasp, saw this as his big opening," said Jack Ellis, Huntingtonnews.net's senior political analyst. "True, in politics, it's good to capitalize on an opponent's mistake, but only if it really was the candidate's fault. This ad wasn't even produced by Raese's campaign, so I don't really see where Manchin thinks he's heading with this."
"With dragging out the poor union guys to protest and all the rest, what Manchin's overwrought response to this nonsense really proves is that the Governor really has no campaign left," said Ellis. "He's run no idea-oriented ads, they've all been personal attacks on Raese. But Raese's numbers just continue to go up."
"But Manchin still doesn't get the message from the public that they want something
positive from him, so he tries to whip Raese on this out-of-state ad," said Ellis.
"It's really rather laughable. Most people I've talked with in both parties are already
over this, and Manchin's trying so hard to give it legs. He still doesn't grasp that
people want some answers on jobs, Obamacare, and the size of government."
"Manchin's campaign has been run in the same fashion that you'd expect a junior high homeroom representative race to be run," said Ellis. "Manchin has tried to make it all about personality, and in the process, he's turned people off, even longtime supporters. Politicians get this way sometimes. They no longer care how others see them. But how can you win that way, you know?"
"This is the final coming full circle for Joe Manchin," said Ellis. "He used to try to run away from the image his Uncle A. James Manchin fostered, always grandly defending West Virginia's honor when nobody really asked him to do so. Manchin has no real issues this year, so if this is the best he's got, he's in for more falling polling numbers. West Virginians want a leader on the big issues of the day, not another A. James."
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