{"id":1698,"date":"2007-05-09T11:46:00","date_gmt":"2007-05-09T17:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/05\/new-richardson-tv-ads-use-humor-to-woo-voters\/"},"modified":"2007-05-09T11:46:00","modified_gmt":"2007-05-09T17:46:00","slug":"new-richardson-tv-ads-use-humor-to-woo-voters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/05\/new-richardson-tv-ads-use-humor-to-woo-voters\/","title":{"rendered":"New Richardson TV ads use humor to woo voters"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Gov. Bill Richardson<\/a> has unveiled some humorous and clever television commercials he plans to begin running in Iowa<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> on Thursday. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The commercials are designed to \u201cmake light of the political establishment\u2019s view of the governor\u2019s campaign for president,\u201d a news release from the campaign states. The first two ads in a planned series portraying a mock job interview were released today and will begin running Thursday. You can watch them at the end of this article.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The first begins with the camera on Richardson, who is waiting while an interviewer looks over his r\u00e9sum\u00e9. The interviewer then runs through Richardson\u2019s credentials \u2013 \u201c14 years in Congress, U.N. ambassador, secretary of energy, governor of New Mexico,\u201d and on and on about negotiating with dictators and being nominated four times for the Nobel Peace Prize.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

But the interviewer appears to be bored. As he takes a bite of a sandwich, he says, \u201cSo, what makes you think you can be president?\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The ad then cuts to some comical music and a snazzy new logo for the Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> campaign, then goes back to Richardson, who turns to the camera with a look that seems to say, \u201cAre you kidding me?\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The words \u201cTo be continued\u201d end the commercial.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The second commercial begins with the interviewer asking Richardson<\/st1:city> to tell him about what he has done as New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> governor. Each time Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> speaks, the interviewer interrupts to finish sentences about job growth and increased teacher pay. He looks unimpressed.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cFor what we\u2019re looking for, you might be little overqualified,\u201d the interviewer tells Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>. Then the same snazzy logo flashes across the screen.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Campaign Manager Dave Contarino said the goal was \u201cto do something original in a presidential campaign, and that was to use humor to communicate Governor Richardson\u2019s vast record of achievement in public service, foreign affairs and as governor of New Mexico.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cBy highlighting Governor Richardson\u2019s sense of humor about his status in the race, we\u2019re also giving voters a window into the governor\u2019s personality and his willingness to poke a little fun at himself and the process of running for president,\u201d Contarino said.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The idea is brilliant. The ads will get attention, leave voters with the impression that Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> has a great deal of experience, and make him seem likeable and funny. Since star power is so important in the current age, it\u2019s a way for Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> to distinguish himself.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The ads are spin, of course, and one glaring issue stood out to me. The interviewer, when going through Richardson<\/st1:city>\u2019s r\u00e9sum\u00e9, says the governor \u201cgot a cease fire in Darfur<\/st1:place>.\u201d The truth is more complicated. Richardson<\/st1:city> returned from Sudan<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> last year saying he had pledges of a cease fire from the government and rebels, but the rebels are fractured, and some groups said they had agreed to no ceasefire.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The ceasefire never really materialized, but Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>\u2019s visit did help pave the way for more U.N. involvement in the conflict.<\/p>\n

\n

The strategy: Focus on Iowa<\/st1:State> and New Hampshire<\/st1:place><\/st1:State><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The commercials will begin airing on broadcast stations and cable television in Iowa<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> on Thursday.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

It appears that, since former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack<\/a> dropped out of the race in February, Richardson<\/st1:city> has decided to put a lot of resources into Iowa<\/st1:place><\/st1:state>. Last month, he became the first 2008 Democratic presidential candidate to run commercials in any state. Though his campaign made a small media buy in New Hampshire<\/st1:state>, he spent most of the money for those first commercials in Iowa<\/st1:place><\/st1:state>. Now he\u2019s running commercials again in that state.<\/p>\n

\n

An e-mail from Contarino to campaign supporters says the new ads will also run in New Hampshire<\/st1:place><\/st1:state>, but doesn\u2019t say when.<\/p>\n

\n

He makes reference in the e-mail to the ever-shifting primary calendar and Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>\u2019s strategy.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cWith more than 20 states holding primaries and caucuses in the two weeks after Iowa<\/st1:state> and New Hampshire<\/st1:place><\/st1:state>, these two early contests are more important than ever,\u201d Contarino wrote. \u201cA strong start will give our campaign a wave of momentum that will carry Governor Richardson to the nomination.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Here are the commercials. They should get a smile out of even Richardson haters.<\/st1:place><\/st1:city><\/p>\n

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Gov. Bill Richardson has unveiled some humorous and clever television commercials he plans to begin running in Iowa on Thursday. The commercials are designed to \u201cmake light of the political establishment\u2019s view of the governor\u2019s campaign for president,\u201d a news release from the campaign states. The first two ads in a planned series portraying a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1698","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1698","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1698"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1698\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}