New Ron Paul Ads Up In NH

by Todd Beeton, Mon Oct 29, 2007 at 12:53:00 PM EDT

This first ad is hilarious. The only thing it tells me about Ron Paul is that his supporters dress funny (and what's up with those haircuts?)

This next one is actually pretty effective and does Paul a service by not once mentioning that he's a Republican (although at some point they'll have to remind Independent Paul supporters ever so gently which primary to vote in, which the first ad actually does do fairly subtly.)

These ads are part of a $1.1 million ad campaign push in New Hampshire where, as David Dayen at The Right's Field reminds us, Paul has surged of late into fourth place, ahead of both Thompson and Huckabee. Certainly the Live Free or Die ethos of New Hampshire would seem to make the state a natural choice to mount a Paul insurgency, but Dayen posits New Hampshire Independents may have another reason for supporting him in the primary:

Paul's chances rely on the independent vote in the state, and in particular getting them to vote in the Republican primary as opposed to the Democratic one. If I'm an independent and I want an end to neoconservative imperialist policies, it may make sense to me that I'd have a better chance of stopping them by knocking out the neocons in the New Hampshire primary than voting for one of a set of somewhat similar candidates (emphasis on somewhat) on the Democratic side.

Tags: ads, New Hampshire, Ron Paul (all tags)

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Is that first ad for real

or a parody of a seventies campaign commercial?

by david mizner 2007-10-29 12:55PM | 0 recs

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Re: Paul supporters

Driving back from lunch today I saw two Paul supporters waving signs on a busy corner. One was a very attractive female. I called my wife and told her I might have to switch my support to Paul and start going to meetings.

I was joking of course.

by dpANDREWS 2007-10-29 12:56PM | 0 recs

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Re: Paul supporters

Seems like most of the ones in the commercial are just supporting Paul because they're worried a non-libertarian might outlaw fatty foods.

by Bush Bites 2007-10-29 02:54PM | 0 recs

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Seriously

Paul could hurt Democratic candidates in N.H. His strong anti-war stance could hurt guys like Richardson or Edwards. His support among youth could hurt Obama. It will all depend where the independents decide to vote --- on the (D) side or the (R) side.

by dpANDREWS 2007-10-29 12:57PM | 0 recs

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Obama

independents who would go for Paul are probably Obama's people

richardson is toast, biden will pass him in iowa

by TarHeel 2007-10-29 12:59PM | 0 recs

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the worst ads of the campaign

who would want to be associated with people that dorky

by TarHeel 2007-10-29 12:58PM | 0 recs

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Re: New Ron Paul Ads Up In NH

The second ad is much better than the first, obviously. Ron Paul may be a kook, but he has a great delivery and a demeanor that comes across as anything but crazy.

Any kind of strong anti-war message is good for the message of the Democratic Party and good for the country, so more power to him as far as I'm concerned.

by Steve M 2007-10-29 01:12PM | 0 recs

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Re: New Ron Paul Ads Up In NH

Being Anti-War is fine, but I don't see Libertarians as having a coherent foreign policy. We need to be engaged in the world forum and Paul has not really been able to demonstrate that he's serious in this area.

by KensUSA 2007-10-29 03:52PM | 0 recs

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Re: New Ron Paul Ads Up In NH

Yes, of course, but it's not an issue since there is no danger of Ron Paul actually winning the Presidency.

The single most important thing we can do for our foreign policy is to end the disaster in Iraq, and to the extent anyone might be tempted to hedge on that issue, the presence of a strong anti-war message helps keep them honest. It really doesn't go a lot deeper than that.

by Steve M 2007-10-29 04:03PM | 0 recs

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if a democrat votes for ron paul...

well...let's just say they really don't beleive in much that the Democratic Party believes in.

i mean the guy says that the income tax is unconstitutional- and it is explicitly written as an amendment to the constitution.

by d 2007-10-29 01:41PM | 0 recs

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Re: New Ron Paul Ads Up In NH

Are Americans really so gullible so as to be convinced by these ads?

I was laughing, not listening!

by Murdoch 2007-10-29 01:58PM | 0 recs

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Re: New Ron Paul Ads Up In NH

I though the first ad was very effective. On all the issues mentioned - out of Iraq, personal privacy, limiting spending - Paul is in tune with the American public and the rest of the Repub field is not. He has kooky stands, but they're not mentioned.

I would have thought that progressives judged political campaign on issues, not the clothes people wear. I guess Hillary made the right choice to wear sharp if age-appropriate clothes and obfuscate on the issues.

by curtadams 2007-10-29 02:23PM | 0 recs

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Re: New Ron Paul Ads Up In NH

Well, I think we're judging the effectiveness of the ads here, not necessarily the issues.

And, as ads go, the first one was pretty lame.

by Bush Bites 2007-10-29 02:56PM | 0 recs

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Re: New Ron Paul Ads Up In NH

The second one is good though.

He reminds me of Perot, only not as wacky.

by Bush Bites 2007-10-29 02:58PM | 0 recs

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Re: New Ron Paul Ads Up In NH

The problem is that with ads like these, the medium is the message.

Having Paul on screen saying all of this would be fine. Having halfway decent actors, or even a cadre of real-life supporters who wouldn't look at home in a "HeadOn" commercial would be even better.

In this ad, Paul has wrapped his political message in a message of a different sort-- i.e. these are the people who are buying what Ron Paul is selling. Unfortunately, they are giant dorks. And giant dorks are funny.

Now, instead of receiving a noise-free message to consider, Joe/Jane New Hampshire have to:

1) get done laughing
2) consider Ron Paul in the context that their support puts them in league with a bunch of people they've just finished mocking.

For anyone who laments the shallowness of it all, I'm not sure I get it. Upping the production value of this ad would in no way compromise the message. Paul wouldn't give his stump speech through a Mr Microphone; he shouldn't broadcast his ideas through fourth-rate actors.

by spatne 2007-10-29 05:53PM | 0 recs

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Cut the budget...

...and "still help people who need it."

Anyone want to guess how he'd respond to being pressed for specifics on that?

by spatne 2007-10-29 04:41PM | 0 recs

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Re: New Ron Paul Ads Up In NH

It must be the result of having seen so many low budget indie films, my tolerance for bad but earnest acting is obviously higher than most. I thought they were both good. He is clearly saying: Here's the things you, Republican voter, may not like about Bush: Iraq, runaway deficits, reckless disregard for personal privacy. He doesn't have to convince anyone to believe those things, he just has to INFORM them that IF they do, he's their guy. If he gets the votes of all the NH Republicans who disagree with Bush on those things -- and where else ARE they going to go? -- he's in good shape.

by thesleepthief 2007-10-29 07:26PM | 0 recs

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Re: New Ron Paul Ads Up In NH

It's pretty hard to make the "kook" label stick when he's on the same side as the majority of Americans on ending the war, cutting government spending, balancing the budget, protecting civil liberties, ending illegal immigration, and respecting the Constitution. If the Democratic contenders would borrow the best parts of his platform, the Republican candidate wouldn't have a chance in 2008.

It's also pretty hard to make the "long shot" label stick when he's fourth in fundraising (Q3), third in net cash on hand, has the largest and most active volunteer base (by far) of any candidate, and draws the largest crowds of any Republican.

The mainstream media has been wrong all along about his campaign, and is in for a big surprise in the primaries.

by Lex 2007-10-30 10:11AM | 0 recs