Thursday, July 31, 2008

Closing Time

THE CLOSING ADS PRE-PRIMARY IN THE RACE FOR GOVERNOR

THE HULSHOF CLOSER

My Take: Bringing us back to his roots is heart-warming. I mean, who doesn't love their dad? It's been Kenny's over-arching theme all along. "I came from small beginnings, but I didn't forget them. I'm a good guy, the Missouri dream. You can trust me." His line about "keeping your good name," is a subtle dig at Steelman. His message: I've stayed above the fray and kept my eye on the ball. You should reward me for that. The endorsements from newspapers is boilerplate politics, but if he's the nominee will he be touting these same papers if/when they back Jay Nixon? What will he say about the importance of endorsements then? He's making the argument that he's better experienced, more prepared, but critics will say he's lacked an overall message beyond that.

THE STEELMAN CLOSER

My Take: Steelman's closer is much like her last ad "Mom." She's basically repackaged it to highlight her maverick/outsider image. Nothing really new here. In fact, she uses some of the exact same lines word for word. Something must be telling them their themes are resonating. Steelman leads off with the Wall Street Journal column, which she hopes conservatives will recognize as a stamp of approval. She looks straight into the camera the entire time and she wants to convey that she's willing to shake up the system, especially on fiscal responsibility and spending. The Steelman ads have been slick and creative throughout the cycle, but this one is serious. No music. No gimmicks. No Orville and Ed. No Lobster. Can you tell it's gametime?

THE NIXON CLOSER

My take: Jay Nixon isn't running in the Republican primary, but you might be fooled by watching his latest ad. His first 30-second bio piece highlights Nixon's long career as Attorney General. The message. He's tough, he favors the death penalty. He knows what bothers you, he cracked down on telemarketers. He understands the economic squeeze, so he'll cut your taxes. Heck, he'll even cut government waste. Democrats will say this is who Jay is and has always been. But if you were new to the scene, you mighta thunk this ad was being run by a Republican.

2 comments:

cats-eye said...

Jay Nixon sounds like a Republican? Bite your tongue! If you don't know it's Democrats who always fix the economy that Republican politicians wreck, cut taxes for the middle class instead of further lining the coffers of record-windfall-profit-big-oil and other mega giants and the top 13,000 families of multibillionaires, and eliminate government waste, (Bush has created the largest government bureacracy in American history, Clinton's welfare to work significantly reduced government aid to the poor that had expanded to an all time high under Reagan-Bush by providing job training and an economy that offered jobs, Bush is borrowing and spending us into debt by trillions a year), and that Democrats enforce justice and peoples' rights, then you need to read the facts of the candidates and elected officials records. It's no secret. It just doesn't get covered by Ky3.
BTW, at least the one blog comment on Nixon lets us know he IS in the race. It's the only mention of him I've seen. I had begun to think according to Ky3 that it was a two person race only!

Unknown said...

I am glad that Dr. Gregory Thompson is running for Governor on the Constitution Party ticket in the November election.

I can't support either of the two big box party candidates. We the people need to vote the corruption out of our government. You can't continue to vote for the same two parties and then expect a different result.