Campaigns have degenerated into “my billionaire can whup your billionaire.”

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Slamming the door on TV political ads
By Phil Power, October 8, 2014

Looking at the political ads now infesting the airwaves reminds me of a disastrous dinner party crowded with ill-mannered, mostly out-of-town guests.

“The meat’s overcooked,” intones the rotund Midwesterner. The beautifully coiffed lady from New York sniffs, “How could you possibly serve brussels sprouts? You know I don’t like them.” Then the hard-charging venture capitalist from Silicon Valley chimes in: “I don’t like chocolate mousse. I prefer a souffle of baby kale.”

If you’re like me, you’d be strongly tempted to ask the whole lot to leave, slam (and lock) the door, and settle back with a strong drink in hand. But that’s what we’re getting on television these days, via a torrent of mostly out-of-state funded ads clogging the airwaves.

Written warning

One drew a splendidly snarky written warning last weekend from the Michigan Truth Squad, a fact-checking service from the Center for Michigan, the nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank I founded eight years ago. The ad, “Say Yes to the Candidate,” sponsored by the College Republican National Committee, tries to follow the premise of “Say Yes to the Dress,” a TLC cable TV reality show about women choosing a wedding gown.

The Truth Squad post begins, “A young woman identified only as Brittany glows when she stands before friends in ‘the Rick Snyder,’ a fitted, strapless gown, with a sparkly belt at the empire waist …

“Brittany beams under her multicultural friends’ approval, but as frequently happens on the show, there’s a fly in the ointment: Brittany’s sour-faced mother, who proclaims, ‘I like the Mark Schauer. It’s overpriced and a little outdated, but I know best.’

“We’re calling this one a warning because we don’t have a category for ‘silly’,” the post concluded. What’s interesting about this ad is there are nearly identical spots running on behalf of GOP gubernatorial candidates in Florida, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Colorado and Arkansas. Not content with inflicting a very silly ad on countless Michigan voters, the college Republicans apparently are insisting on pulling the same stunt — called “clever” by Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus — all around the country.

This is a perfect example of why the infestation of out-of-state political ads is so irritating and (I hope) hurtful to the candidate they’re supposed to support. In fact, this one seems clearly to have done so, as it has been roundly denounced as sexist.

Gov. Rick Snyder, clearly embarrassed by the ad, which apparently ran without his approval, was quoted in the Macomb Daily as calling it “dumb and offensive.”

When I talked awhile ago with both Republican and Democratic state party chairs about the avalanche of out-of-state ads, both complained that national party poobahs and assorted bored billionaires were messing with their attempt to make their campaigns locally relevant to Michigan voters.

That was, by the way, before anyone had seen the “say yes to the dress” ad, so I figure they knew what they were talking about.

More to come

Sadly, there’s likely more, much more, of this stuff coming. Much of it may not be as silly as the wedding dress spot, but it may be even more offensive. Rich Robinson at the Michigan Campaign Finance Network, a nonpartisan outfit that tracks political spending, said to date both parties have spent more than $51 million between them on TV advertising for both races for U.S. Senate and governor.

With almost a month before Election Day, you know there are millions more in the pipeline. Why are they doing this?

Well, as easy (and fun) as it is to criticize the tidal wave of partisan advertising, sad to say, it seems to work.

My billionaire vs. your billionaire

As Robinson said last week, instead of the campaigns being contests between differing political agendas or even the differing personalities of the candidates, they’ve degenerated into “my billionaire can whup your billionaire.”

Fortunately for me, my absentee ballot arrived at my house over the weekend. I’m going to vote just as soon as I finish wriing this, so I can hit the “mute” button on the TV remote.

Somehow, when it comes to picking our leaders, there should be a better way.
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