The 2014 campaign brought us more than its share of ads. Most are quite forgettable, but plenty were notable in one way or another. Some managed to present an interesting and compelling case for their side and others were... well, flat-out terrible.
In late August I featured five effective ads and five ineffective commercials. What follows is a look at spots from the post-Labor Day period. However, I'd be remiss if I didn't once again acknowledge two notable Republican ads from the spring: Joni Ernst's now legendary "Squeal" spot in Iowa, and Terri Lynn Land's terrible "Really" commercial in Michigan.
There are plenty of great and terrible ads that didn't get included in the main list. These 10 spots were chosen because each offers a lesson in political messaging, and they are worth learning from. Plenty of losing campaigns aired good ads, while the winning side often came up with a few stinkers, proving ads are an important part of any campaign's strategy, but they aren't the only part.
We'll start with the above spot below the fold, a very strange ad from Louisiana ....
• LA-Sen: Bill Cassidy (R): Cassidy is on track to defeat Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu in the Dec. 6 runoff, but it's no thanks to spots like this one.
The premise is very smart: It features three women who say they voted for Landrieu before but won't do it again. However, the ad is executed poorly. The first third is fine, but when a woman identified as "Ginger" describes how Landrieu is "just trying to scare us with nonsense about Social Security, Medicare, and veterans," the whole thing starts to go wrong. It's pretty clear that Ginger is calling Landrieu's attacks nonsense, but the way she say it makes it sound like she's dismissing the issues themselves.
The fact that the three ladies end the spot all sitting together also feels off. It makes the whole thing seem a bit fake, like it's obvious that these are actors or Cassidy partisans rather than genuine voters scattered across the state. The way they take turns speaking also makes the whole presentation seem inauthentic and scripted. Plenty of ads get around this problem by showing their supporters in different shots, so they don't look like they're being staged.
The shot of Cassidy outside that very house at the end further makes the whole set-up seem false. Obviously viewers know that most ads (political or otherwise) are carefully scripted, and plenty of the "men and women on the street" are actually actors. Still, they don't want to draw attention to that fact, which this ad does. The entire ad feels wrong, and it shouldn't. Cassidy's creepy smile at the end really doesn't help things either.
What We Can Learn: Keep your "regular voters" in separate shots and away from the candidate to avoid the ads feeling staged. Also, take better care when dismissing important issues. And if your candidate has an off-putting visual quality, don't throw it in the ad.
• AR-02: Patrick Henry Hays (D): This conservative Little Rock-area seat just wasn't going to flip to the Democrats this year, but Hays deserves enormous credit for putting it on the map in the first place, and forcing the GOP to spend against him late in the game. Ads like this help explain why Hays was such a formidable candidate in a terrible year.
While the Cassidy commercial suffered from lack of authenticity, this spot is the exact opposite. Hays describes how he attracted jobs as mayor of North Little Rock, all the while performing some of those jobs—driving a truck, riding a forklift, and serving ice cream. Of course Hays doesn't actually go around serving ice cream in his spare time, but his friendly nature helps sell the spot as sincere rather than as fake.
The spot also does one other thing very well: It visualizes the jobs Hays talks about creating. Any candidate can say "I created thousands of jobs," but by actually performing some of those jobs, Hays helps the viewer imagine them and makes the whole thing much more interesting and memorable.
What We Can Learn: Find a creative way to show the candidate's accomplishments rather than just talk about them. A candidate's sincerity can also make all the difference between a good ad and a bad one.
• NY-01: Tim Bishop (D): This ad has the right idea: defend Bishop from Republican attacks, and then quickly pivot to hitting Republican Lee Zeldin. However, it starts off making one major (but
surprisingly common) mistake when it repeats those same Republican attacks.
The narrator declares, "Tim Bishop is not under FBI investigation, they found no wrongdoing." It's rarely a good idea to repeat your opponent's attack, even if you're trying to counter them. When the narrator brings up the words "Tim Bishop" and "FBI investigation," he's actually helping keep the original GOP attacks in circulation.
A similar example is Richard Nixon's famous "I'm not a crook," line. Even without knowing the context of Watergate, the people hearing it are far more likely to associate the words "Nixon" and "crook" than "Nixon" and "honest." The congressman did need to address the allegations but there were more effective ways to do it. For instance, he could have described how ethical he was, not how he wasn't unethical. Bishop ended up losing by 10 points, in large part due to questions about his honesty.
What we can learn: When trying to counter an attack, don't repeat it.
• NC-Sen: Kay Hagan (D): Hagan may have lost her seat, but she deserves enormous credit for keeping the contest so close. This spot highlights Hagan's skill: She manages to defend herself from GOP attacks in a convincing and effective way.
One thing the spot does well from the beginning is feature Hagan rather than a narrator. Obviously the candidate's time is valuable and they can't appear in every ad (nor should they try), but having Hagan herself do the talking does make the whole thing more convincing. Hagan addresses the GOP attacks but wisely doesn't repeat them. Instead she focuses on the positive: She declares she's creating jobs, standing up for veterans, and protecting Medicare and Social Security.
If Hagan had decided to counter the GOP attacks in a similar way as Bishop, this spot could have backfired. Hagan could have said "I didn't vote against job-killing policies, I didn't ignore veterans, and I don't want to cut Medicare and Social Security." Instead, she found a smart way to phrase the same arguments as positives, and made herself look better while pushing back on the GOP's ads.
What we can learn: When defending yourself, it's better to frame your actions as positive rather than as not negative.
• IA-03: David Young (R): In a year as good for Republicans as 2014, this swing seat was probably going to stay red no matter what. However, Young's very first spot was just plain weird. Young talks about how Iowans want a good meal and good government: While they have a good meal, they don't have the government. That's a decent argument, but the camera distractingly focuses on food while Young talks. The whole thing just feels strange, and it's hard to remember what Young is saying besides "food!"
What we can learn: Be careful about taking your comparisons too far.
• CO-Sen: Cory Gardner (R): There are a lot of reasons Gardner won on Nov. 4, but one of them is how well he was able to sell himself as a friendly, down-to-earth guy rather than the social conservative extremist Democratic Sen. Mark Udall portrayed him as. This ad offers a very good example of what a good candidate Gardner was.
Gardner starts by declaring that Udall is a nice guy, but one who will never change the Senate. The Republican then contrasts Udall's political family with his own family's humble profession selling tractors. Gardner managed to master the very rare skill of attacking without looking overly aggressive; his declaration that Udall is a nice guy also sounds genuine and doesn't appear too condescending, all without losing its bite. Plenty of candidates couldn't pull this kind of feat off and shouldn't try; it's hard to imagine Mitch McConnell attempting this, for example. However, Gardner's commercial definitely helped him break through the ad clutter and win.
What we can learn: Sometimes the best way to attack is with a smile on your face.
• AK-Sen: Mark Begich (D): Most of Begich's ads were incredibly good, but this one utterly blew up in his face.
The line of attack could have worked. It features a retired Anchorage police officer accusing Republican Dan Sullivan of allowing a sex offender to go free, before describing in graphic detail what that criminal (Jerry Active) did. If all had gone right, Begich could have successfully portrayed Sullivan as someone who didn't have the judgment to be a senator.
Things quickly went wrong for Begich when the family of Active's victims complained. Bryon Collins, the family's lawyer, ordered Begich to take the spot off the air immediately. Collins even told the Begich campaign, "You are tearing this family apart to the point that your ad was so shocking to them they now want to permanently leave the state as quickly as possible." Rather than portraying Sullivan as irresponsible, Begich inadvertently made himself look bad. Begich did try to reach out to the family before running the ad but went ahead with it when they didn't respond. That turned out to be a huge mistake.
What we can learn: When you're about to attack your rival over a horrific crime, make sure that the people who are still affected are on board with it. If they aren't, don't run the ad.
• IL-12: Mike Bost (R): When Bost announced he would run against Democratic incumbent Bill Enyart, his rivals immediately pointed to a viral video where Bost
had a meltdown on the floor of the Illinois House. Democratic ads continued to hit Bost over this, arguing that he was too crazy to be in Congress.
Rather than ignore the Democratic attacks, Bost found a smart way to turn his meltdown into an advantage. Bost started his commercial by acknowledging the ads, but declaring that unpopular Gov. Pat Quinn's actions made him mad. Bost then describes how angry Enyart and Obama's actions are making him. Bost found a good way to turn his flaw into an asset—instead of appearing as an unhinged lunatic, Bost portrayed himself as angry about how things were going, just like everyone else.
The Republican demonstrated how effective it could be to turn a disadvantage into an advantage by framing it in a way regular people could relate to. Back in June, Oklahoma Republican James Lankford also pulled off a similar move in the U.S. Senate primary, successfully portraying his service in the hated U.S. House as a positive trait rather than as a liability. There are obviously limits to this kind of strategy. For example, you shouldn't try to turn stalking someone into a positive quality, as Oregon Republican Monica Wehby learned the hard way. But Bost's strategy can definitely work in plenty of instances. Democrats continued to attack Bost's meltdown but in the end, he won this swing seat by 12 points.
What we can learn: It's good to see if you can portray a potential flaw as an asset.
• IA-Sen: DSCC (D): Democrat Bruce Braley has been roundly criticized for running a weak campaign, and for good reason. He made plenty of gaffes, and he never seemed to know how to attack Republican Joni Ernst, who ended up beating him by 8 points. However, Braley wasn't the only Democrat to make mistakes when it came to Ernst.
This DSCC ad on its own isn't horrible. I even described it as "decent" when it first aired. However, it is a symptom of a much larger problem. Democrats knew Ernst had a history as an ultra-conservative legislator who advocated for unpopular and fringe policies, but they never really found the right way to attack her. This spot is no different. It does quickly address how Ernst wants to eliminate the national minimum wage, cut taxes for millionaires, and privatize Social Security, but it cycles through the attacks too quickly to let them really sink in.
Instead, the spot spends time linking Ernst to Sarah Palin. The comparison is fair, but it probably wasn't incredibly effective. In 2009 and 2010, Palin was a high-profile figure that inspired plenty of loathing from swing voters, but by 2014 she was a lot less important. Plenty of voters still don't like her, but by this point she feels like very old news. A good comparison is how George W. Bush in 2010. Voters still disliked him, but they weren't angry enough to still vote against any candidates who were associated with the former president. Plenty of Democratic groups eventually started zeroing in on Ernst's views, but too late to make a difference. Team Blue needed to make the case that Ernst was too extreme for Iowa, and ads like this just weren't a good way to sell the argument.
What we can learn: If a rival candidate has extreme views, go after them head on early and often. Also be careful who you compare your opponent to.
• KS-Sen: Pat Roberts (R): In the run up to the election, Roberts was horrifically unpopular and in danger of losing his seat to independent Greg Orman. However, Roberts' campaign hammered Orman as a secret Obama supporter and Orman himself unintentionally helped them. Orman knew he needed to forge a coalition of Democrats, independents, and some Republicans to win, and he had to keep the three groups happy even when they held contradictory views on major issues. Orman deliberately adopted vague views on Obamacare, and Roberts successfully exploited them.
The spot features a tracking shot of Orman being directly asked if he'll vote against Obamacare, with the independent dismissing it as "an interesting question," before moving on and ignoring follow-ups. Roberts then alleged that Orman was a secret Obama supporter who would keep the law in place. The rest of the ad is pretty standard attacks on Orman as an independent, but the opening really sells the idea that Orman has something he wants to hide. Roberts ended up defying the polls and winning by 11 points.
What we can learn: Your opponent's own words are often your greatest asset.
Other Notable Effective Ads: There were plenty of other campaigns that deserve to be recognized for their spots.
• KY-Sen: Mitch McConnell (R): This commercial did what few people though was possible—it made Mitch McConnell seem like a likable guy.
• NC-Sen: Thom Tillis (R): Tillis' spots weren't as memorable as Hagan's, but he deserves credit for also mastering how to push back on attacks in an effective way.
• MD-Gov: RGA (R): National Republicans used ads like these to successfully paint Democratic Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown as a continuation of the tax-raising policies Martin O'Malley. The ad probably played a part in Republican Larry Hogan's victory.
• CA-36: Raul Ruiz (D): Ruiz not only won in a swing district, he won big. Ads like this are a big reason why, and drawing a weak Republican opponent also didn't hurt.
• FL-18: Patrick Murphy (D): Murphy used his massive fundraising edge to flood the airwaves with positive ads. The strategy more than worked: Murphy won 60-40 in a 52-48 Romney district. He has plenty of commercials to choose from, but this one is the most memorable.
• GA-12: John Barrow (D): Barrow ended up losing his seat, but he definitely went down fighting. In this spot a constituent memorably declares, "Anybody who says John Barrow isn't getting things done is lying like a no-legged dog." In a better year, it could have won him another term.
Other Notable Ineffective Ads: And of course we have our stinkers...
• IA-Sen: U.S. Chamber of Commerce (R): Meet 2014's stupidest ad. Of course, when you're winning, you can afford to air terrible ads like this.
• CA-Gov: Neel Kashkari (R): Boy, this was disturbing.
• FL-Gov: College Republicans (R): This spot was online only, which is probably for the best for everyone involved. A nearly identical ad was also used in several other races.
• IL-Gov: Bruce Rauner (R): Rauner may have calculated that Mike Ditka's mere presence could offset the utter weirdness of the commercial. Who knows, maybe he was right.
• TX-Gov: Wendy Davis (D): Davis was on track to lose unless she took a major risk. Still, this probably wasn't the best ad to air.
• NE-02: NRCC (R): This ad attracted plenty of criticism, although it's unclear if it actually cost Republican Rep. Lee Terry any votes. Terry was on track to lose narrowly before this ad, and he lost narrowly after this ad.
Got a favorite ad that didn't make the list? Have a particularly terrible spot that needs a shout-out? Add them in the comments!