Finally, good Lieberman ads
I have said many times privately and a couple times publicly that the Lieberman campaign's TV ads have so far been poor in both concept and execution. Lamont's quirky ads have been overly cheesy at times (the "I support this message...so do we" tags begin to sound contrived once you've seen it a few dozen times), but have had been unquestionably better than the Lieberman campaign's duds. The strategy has been to try and shift the focus to Lamont, which will never work in a race between a 3-term incumbent who has been on a national ticket and a challenger who few have ever seen or heard of. The correct strategy should have been to highlight and burnish Lieberman's solid credentials as a progressive and a Democrat.
Finally, the campaign seems to be getting it. They have released two new ads - one featuring an endorsement from Chriss Dodd, and the other featuring Bill Clinton. The newest Lieberman ad features Clinton speaking at the rally for Lieberman:
The Dodd endorsement ad is no doubt going to be helpful, but it's the Clinton ad which will undoubtedly get the most ink spilled on it. The anti-Lieberman crowd will probably make at least two arguments to downplay the Clinton ad's potential effectiveness:
The second point seems like very wishful thinking on the part of Lieberman's detractors. For one thing, I don't see many people making such an association unless they already dislike Lieberman or have already decided to vote against him. I think that the memory of Lieberman's speech is far, far stronger among Lamont supporters (particularly those in the blogosphere) than it is among the general population of Democrats.
Even if the viewer did make such a connection, I think that most voters are highly unlikely to hold Lieberman's 8-year old criticism against him after Clinton just went and called Lieberman his "friend" that he is "proud of" as a "good Democrat." As I wrote last weekend, Lieberman's role in the Lewinsky scandal is massively and artificially inflated by his detractors, who ignore Lieberman's staunch opposition to impeachment or any other official reprimand of Clinton and instead focus on the one speech that he made where he criticized Clinton's personal conduct - and even at the time, Clinton said that he agreed with the speech and did not find it the least bit disloyal or out of line.
The ad will finally start to rebuild the positive associations between Lieberman and progressives that have held for the vast majority of his political career. Clinton remains perhaps the most recognized and most respected member of the party, and his word that Joe Lieberman is a good loyal Democrat should (and probably will) carry much weight among Democratic voters.
Coupled with the Dodd ad, the Clinton ad hopefully is an indication that the Lieberman campaign has finally figured out the strategy they need to take in order to stop the free-fall in the polls (maybe even throw it in reverse) and remind Connecticut Democrats why it's more than ok to pull the lever for Lieberman.
Finally, the campaign seems to be getting it. They have released two new ads - one featuring an endorsement from Chriss Dodd, and the other featuring Bill Clinton. The newest Lieberman ad features Clinton speaking at the rally for Lieberman:
Bill Clinton: "I'm proud that I helped Joe Lieberman in 1970. I'm proud that we've been friends all these years. Proud of his three terms in the Senate. He has been one of the leaders in the Congress. I want him elected because he understands and cares about health care. I want him elected for economy to national security, for our children and grandchildren. Go out and elect Joe Lieberman. He's earned it; he's been a good Democrat. He's a good man, and he'll do you proud. Thank you and God bless you all!"The ads do exactly what Lieberman's camp has so far failed to do. They put a Democrats on the screen telling the audience (and the ad's viewers) that Joe Lieberman is a reliable, principled Democrat - and in a way that gets the message across.
The Dodd endorsement ad is no doubt going to be helpful, but it's the Clinton ad which will undoubtedly get the most ink spilled on it. The anti-Lieberman crowd will probably make at least two arguments to downplay the Clinton ad's potential effectiveness:
- Clinton is not from Connecticut, and an out-of-state politician will not hold much sway over CT Democrats.
- People will see the ad and instead of focusing on Clinton's obvious support for Lieberman, they'll take a mental trip back to 1998 and remember Lieberman's criticism of Clinton's personal conduct during the Lewinsky scandal.
The second point seems like very wishful thinking on the part of Lieberman's detractors. For one thing, I don't see many people making such an association unless they already dislike Lieberman or have already decided to vote against him. I think that the memory of Lieberman's speech is far, far stronger among Lamont supporters (particularly those in the blogosphere) than it is among the general population of Democrats.
Even if the viewer did make such a connection, I think that most voters are highly unlikely to hold Lieberman's 8-year old criticism against him after Clinton just went and called Lieberman his "friend" that he is "proud of" as a "good Democrat." As I wrote last weekend, Lieberman's role in the Lewinsky scandal is massively and artificially inflated by his detractors, who ignore Lieberman's staunch opposition to impeachment or any other official reprimand of Clinton and instead focus on the one speech that he made where he criticized Clinton's personal conduct - and even at the time, Clinton said that he agreed with the speech and did not find it the least bit disloyal or out of line.
The ad will finally start to rebuild the positive associations between Lieberman and progressives that have held for the vast majority of his political career. Clinton remains perhaps the most recognized and most respected member of the party, and his word that Joe Lieberman is a good loyal Democrat should (and probably will) carry much weight among Democratic voters.
Coupled with the Dodd ad, the Clinton ad hopefully is an indication that the Lieberman campaign has finally figured out the strategy they need to take in order to stop the free-fall in the polls (maybe even throw it in reverse) and remind Connecticut Democrats why it's more than ok to pull the lever for Lieberman.
24 Comments:
so what's your argument, that people should not pay attention to what other people say and look at lieberman's record or that an endorsement from clinton makes lieberman more of a democrat?
What he's saying is that both the Clinton spot and the Dodd spot will make some Democrats come back to Lieberman. Of course, some Democrats are just plain stupid, and have web sites like Daily Kos, Buzzflash, and Arianna think for them.
Can Robo-Clinton Really Save Joe?
What have things come to when Joe Lieberman has to use a recorded message of Bill Clinton to ensure that Connecticut voters won't hang up on him? And why won't Lieberman talk to us about what Clinton calls "the Pink Elephant in the Room" - the Iraq War?
The message on the issues that people really care about has been lost. Fortunately, some enterprising people on the Internets have made an effort to answer a question that many voters must have - Who is Joe Lieberman?
Debunk Joe Lieberman's many twisted lies
Learn how Republicans are financing his campaign
Examine Lieberman's strong support from Supreme Leader Bush and a gaggle of TV and talk radio wackjobs
I'd rather have my teeth extracted than settle for six more years of Joementum.
I think the argument is pretty clear: The Democrats who are supporting Lieberman know his record and know that he's a good Democrat. Their appearence in TV ads will remind people of that and help refute statements to contrary, and if the voters still aren't sure, they can check for themselves.
Interesting...that second anon post looks like a copy and paste from several L4L posts.
If you aren't sure, look at the comment from 7/26/06 at 8:02 PM here:
http://lieberdem.blogspot.com/2006/07/real-clear-record-on-abortiongay.html
Good catch, centristdem
joe has a divine right for public office. don't these damn lefty blogger trolls know that?
I wonder if he'll just delete it like he did with the comment where he called stem cell research friovolous...
Sundog and Ken, where are you? I long for someone who is willing to talk about something without name-calling...
Ah, L4L. You're so far beyond pathetic in your inability to make a coherent point, much less make a reasonable argument, that it makes me genuinely sad for you. Maybe you should talk to Sundog and find out that it's possible to oppose Lieberman while staying on topic, making valid points, and refuting your opponents' arguments rather than throwing insults at them.
Did you see the latest Lieberman attack mailer? I just got it, and it seems that Lieberman is comparing himself to a mule.
An apt comparison, since a mule is only half donkey....
Sorry that you view a call to actually discuss the issues rather than blindly ignore anything that doesn't help your case and trolling links to other sites as an "insult."
You apparently lack the intelligence or the desire to discuss issues. That's why all you do is post other people's writings and tack on a couple insults, and then - and this is really pathetic - copy and paste your old posts as "anonymous" to make it look like more people agree with you.
Now that's meaningless. Grow a backbone and engage on the issues.
Did anybody notice Lieberman's vote and statements against the ridiculous anti-abortion law that Frist shoved through this week? I'm surprised nobody has posted about it...
Doesn't mean that much in an election year. Lieberman is naturally going to change his stripes to make himself look like less of an extremist right now.
How is it changing his stripes? He has never supported any laws like that one.
"short ride" comes to mind from the recent past...
A statement that the Lieberman-haters love to harp on, but which is on an issue that is only REALLY tangentially connected to choice issues. This law has to do with basic right to getting an abortion; the other deals with requiring religious institutions to do things which go against their religious beliefs. Constitutionally, legislatively, and conceptually, they are VERY different issues.
Why hasn't Lieberman been on the In-Sannity program lately? I miss all that dem bashing.
Yes, because God forbid a Democrat should ever speak ill of another Democrat or appear to get along with Republicans. Why that would mean that we were just like Ned Lamont...or Joe Lieberman...or any other open-minded human being.
Anonymous: These Lieberdems simply will not listen to reason. Apparently they are in the employ Lieberman Information Ministry.
It's what they call their "campaign".
It's amazing...a Lieberman supporter presents a counterargument, and instead of responding back to it, you say that WE won't listen to reason and then insult us all as lying puppets.
Endorsements are a sign of weakness. Joe is overplaying the Clinton thing (with all the ads, the Clinton themesong on the side of his bus, etc.). Doesn't look like a winner, but like someone trying to hang on.
This primary will come down to the poeple motivated enough to vote on a summer day, and those people are less likely to be swayed by endorsements by the political establishment. Are Dem primary voters in CT happy with the performance of the Democrat establishment? I didn't think so. More endorsements won't help.
And the Clinton thing will be getting quite old by primary day.
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