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27 October 2010

Lavin has best voters guide ad

Democrats struggle to win elections in Flathead County despite fielding excellent candidates. In part, that’s because the county’s demographics favor Republicans. But I’m beginning to wonder whether timid advertising is another factor.

Yesterday’s Daily InterLake included a voters guide containing large advertisements from both parties. The page promoting Democrats Zac Perry (HD-3, Columbia Falls) and Brian Schutt (HD-8, Kalispell) says:

Bryan and Zac have the qualities it takes to work on the challenging problem our state faces, and to craft solutions to our benefit.

That sounds good — but what does it mean? What are the qualities? What are the problems? What are the solutions? The ad avoids those questions, leaving the reader to wonder what Perry and Schutt are trying to hide. Other Democratic ads are equally terse and vague. Joe Brenneman did have an outstanding oped in the InterLake, but since his ad was a full page, he could have incorporated the oped into it.

By contrast, Steve Lavin, the Republican candidate for HD-8, provided much more information on who he is and what he wants to do in the legislature. And he illustrated it with a wonderful photograph of himself and his “campaign manager & daughter Cassidy.” It’s friendly, straightforward, and doesn’t insult our intelligence. I rate it the most effective ad in the voters guide.