In a time when candidates are marketed on television like fabric softener and TV ads are increasingly replacing the need for politicos to meet potential voters in person, says Jeremy Alford, you might expect the TV ads to provide something real and tangible.
“Yet given advancements in digital filmmaking and editing, and the awareness of the true issues facing the state over the next four years, the televised campaigns for governor are largely falling short this cycle in Louisiana,” Alford writes in his latest column. “With a few exceptions, we’re only getting incomplete pictures of the candidates and their ideas.”
Instead of examples of political branding and solid messaging, Alford says, we’re stuck with ads about issues that are polling well and attacks that are being used strategically.
“Negative advertising certainly has its place, and it usually works, but we’re not seeing mud slung to draw distinctions between candidates,” he writes. “Negative spots are being used to stymie upward movement in the polls, which is understandable if you’re a campaign manager.”
Just as meaningful is what’s not being said over the airwaves, Alford says.
“State Rep. John Bel Edwards, the leading Democratic candidate for governor, has released three television commercials so far and none of them mentions the single factor—his party—that sets him apart from the top of the field,” Alford notes. “He’s the only Democrat among the established contenders, which is a label Edwards does not shy away from in forums or speeches. But to put it up on TV, in a state where Republicans control all major offices, is something else entirely.”
Instead, the Republican Governors Association is doing that for him with a new ad, the first in a series, that labels Edwards as an “Obama liberal.”
“With that kind of rhetoric, there’s no need to call him a Democrat,” Alford writes. “It makes no mention, however, of Edwards being pro-gun, pro-life and in favor of traditional marriage. If Edwards were running against a slate of Democrats, they’d probably label him as being too Republican.”
Similar to how the TV ads Edwards and Republicans Scott Angelle, Jay Dardenne and David Vitter have left much much to be desired, says Alford, the few unscripted televised debates to include all four leading candidates have also been largely unmemorable.
Jeremy Alford publishes LaPolitics Weekly, a newsletter on Louisiana politics, at LaPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter, or on Facebook. He can be reached at JJA@LaPolitics.com.
