Serving the Flathead Valley & Montana since 2006. A reality based independent journal of observation & analysis. © James Conner.

 

21 July 2014

Steve Daines and the art of 30-second swiftboating

Montana’s U.S. Senate and House campaigns are being largely fought by 30-second television commercials. Some money is being spent on direct mail and other ink and paper media, but most of the money spent by the candidates and third party propagandists pays for television advertising.

I wish it were not so. TV ads are aimed at the heart, not the head. Mostly they use sound, motion, and a few words to hammer home one idea, or half-idea, that causes the viewer to feel good about the candidate or bad about the candidate’s opponent. Unless one video records the commercial spot for playback and study, one’s exposure to the content is fleeting (only radio spots are worse in that regard). And frankly, how many television viewers who are not political junkies record and study political spots?

Fortunately, Mike Dennison of the Lee State Bureau writes reviews of political ads that are published in the Billings Gazette and sometimes other newspapers. Great Falls blogger Mike Brown, a former Republican political operative, critiques ads at The Western Word. Today, Brown looks at Steve Daines’ latest ad, Injustice. And at Intelligent Discontent, Don Pogreba often comments on TV ads.

That’s a pretty good critiquing crew. So I usually point Flathead Memo’s readers in their direction when a new TV spot requires expert examination.

Brown, an Air Force veteran, frequently takes Daines to task for attacking veterans and for running ads that invert the truth. An example from today:

Over the past two months there has been quite a negative reaction in the newspapers and on the internet about the Daines’ ads called “Personal Gain” and “Mistreated.” In my opinion, they were swiftboat-style attacks on Walsh’s military career. These negative ads were run by the Daines campaign even after Daines had recommended Walsh to the President of the United States for a position on the National Commission on the Structure of the Air Force a little over a year ago.

Daines ads are designed to blacken Walsh’s reputation as a soldier and advocate for womens’ rights. His message has two components:

  1. Walsh was a bad soldier who was reprimanded by multi-star Army brass for using his position for personal gain.

  2. Walsh kept his foot on the shoulder of women in the Montana National Guard, nefariously preventing them from applying for and being awarded promotions they had earned.

Daines wants to weaken Walsh’s creds with moderate Republican veterans and women who might consider voting for a veteran of the Iraq war who doesn’t believe that women are ordained by Divine Providence to stay pregnant and spend their time in the kitchen and church (Kinder, Küche, Kirche in Deutsch).

Later, Daines will argue that returning Walsh to the Senate is tantamount to entrusting the collection plate to a besotted sailor bound for the bottle stores and red light districts. And he’ll do it with 30-second television commercials.

My advice to readers: if you must watch television, hit the mute button and avert your gaze for the next 30 seconds when a political advertisement sullies your screen. You’ll be a happier person and better citizen if you do.