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Obama’s bipartisan ad doesn’t do much for GOP |
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By Aaron Blake
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Posted: 07/24/07 07:32 PM [ET] |
Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) has often downplayed the dichotomy that exists between “liberal America” and “conservative America” and emphasized unity.
But his ad featuring a Republican state legislator doesn’t look like it’s going to help him make that a reality for his presidential campaign, according to a survey by Wilson Research Strategies.
Republicans gave the ad, featuring Illinois Republican state Sen. Kirk Dillard, a below-average rating. On a scale of zero to 10, they scored the ad a 5.2 for strength of message and a 4.0 for buzz-worthiness.
In the ad, Dillard says that Republican state legislators respected Obama and that he thinks Obama’s leadership “would serve the country very well.”
Overall, the ad received a lukewarm response, with Democrats and independents scoring it slightly above average.
Wilson Research Strategies CEO Chris Wilson said the Obama ad “is both effective and appealing to independents. But it does little to convince Republicans of his bipartisan credibility as they find it less than memorable and not an ad they would talk about.”
A Club for Growth ad, meanwhile, did better with its target audience.
The ad, which denounces Kansas congressional candidate Lynn Jenkins’s (R) record on taxes, scored a 7.4 among Republicans for its strength of message and a 7.1 for its effectiveness.
“In Kansas, when we fill up our tanks, we’re paying a Lynn Jenkins gas tax,” states the ad.
Jenkins is running in a primary against former Rep. Jim Ryun (R) for the right to face freshman Rep. Nancy Boyda (D). Jenkins is currently state treasurer.
“Republican insiders see this ad as very effective and potentially damaging to the Jenkins campaign,” Wilson said, calling it “a real ‘hit.’”
In contrast, former Sen. John Edwards’s (D) ad garnered mostly sub-par marks. In the ad, Edwards speaks about the “strength of America” and asks people to be “patriotic about something other than war.”
It received a 5.0 for its strength of message and proved less than memorable at 4.4. Democrats didn’t particularly care for it, giving it average marks for effectiveness and strength of message.
A Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) radio ad that criticizes Republicans for allegedly not supporting veterans scored similarly low ratings. While it received a 5.9 for strength of message and a 5.3 for effectiveness, all of the other four ratings were below 5.0.
Working with The Hill for its Air War feature, Wilson Research Strategies e-mails campaign or issue ads to survey participants who view the ads and rate their effectiveness on several criteria.
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