Welcome to Ad Watch, our newest special series, which will run weekly from now until election week. The purpose of this series is to attempt to catalog, or index, the many campaign ads that are going up on television (and sometimes radio) to influence elections in the Pacific Northwest. In each installment, we’ll briefly describe ads we’ve seen that are being paid for by candidates, ballot measure coalitions, political parties, or shadowy special interests masquerading as grassroots groups, and provide links so you can watch the ads for yourself.
This week in Ad Watch:
- Our Washington, a coalition of unions, Democratic donors, and the Democratic Governor’s Association (DGA), have unveiled their first anti-Rob McKenna TV spot. It’s titled Clean Up, and it is accompanied by a new website, The Real McKenna. The central theme of the ad is “Rob McKenna isn’t who he says he is.”
- The aforementioned anti-McKenna ad was launched only days after the Republican Governors Association (RGA) put up their first anti-Jay Inslee ad. Titled Time after Time, it attacks Jay Inslee for voting in favor of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The ad characterizes ARRA as a failure, when in reality, it saved millions of jobs.
- Inslee’s own latest ad is titled Built, and in it, the Democratic gubernatorial standard-bearer points out that in the private sector, not all firms succeed… but some startups go on to be big, successful companies like Boeing or Microsoft. Inslee has said he wants to encourage and promote innovative startups as governor, especially in the field of clean energy.
- Rob McKenna’s newest ad is titled Good Reasons and attempts to put a shine on McKenna’s record as attorney general, and to inoculate McKenna against Democrats’ “war on women” frame. It ends by saying “As governor, Rob McKenna will continue protecting Washington’s women and children. After all, he has good reasons.”
- Washington United for Marriage has unveiled its latest pro-marriage equality spot, titled Boehler. It features Robin and Steve Boehler talking about one of their daughters (who is a lesbian) and their hope that she will be able to marry the woman she loves when she’s ready.
Did we miss an add that should be on this list? Let us know in the comments.
5 Comments
Who is the actor with the goatee/mustache in the Rob McKenna, not who he says he is ad?
Wow, Rob McKenna, makes less than a Corporate Attorney, makes less than a starting NFL Football Player ????, yet some jerk / fake actor, wants you to believe he is ripping off the public. Better yet WA State does have the highest minimum wage, the most illegal Latinos with drivers licences and now gay marriage. Funny, Jay Inslee now wants you to believe ‘it’s time to get to work’, really what have the Democrats been doing the last eight years?. Driving business under with their excessive taxes. And i’m to believe that Jay Inslee, is responsible for Boeing’s success. Yeah right. I would rather have a educated lawyer as governor than some former ‘truck driver’ who attended the worst high school in Seattle. Oh by the way, Jay Inslee’s wife looks like a dog. Wow, Jay Inslee wrote a ‘book’, five years ago. Take a bow, Christian
That dude in the anti McKenna ad went to grade school with him…scandal pending.
The ad against Rob McKenna with the woman who states that he is not who he says he is, is insane. I am a proud Democrat but please, to infer that Rob McKenna shouldn’t back fellow Republicans is ridiculous. I think a Democrat who backed a Republican would not be thought of well, who is he supposed to support? What a stupid ad. I have no intention of voting for Rob McKenna, but please don’t insult my intelligence to make me think he is bad because he backed Bush and McCain/Palin.
Yeah, that’s the second of the ads released by Our Washington. The one linked to in this post is the first. No doubt there are more coming.
Cheap attacks, including the guilt-by-association variety, have long been a staple of negative political advertising. Part of it is experimentation — the entities responsible are throwing mud to see what sticks.