Before showing the ad and analyzing it, consider the following from a NY Times piece entitled Saying He Pulled Negative Ad, Huckabee Shows It:
Huckabee's ad was so effective in generating media attention. The ad ran hundreds of times on national and local TV, despite the fact that it cost the Huckabee campaign nothing (except the cost of production).In an act of political jujitsu, Mike Huckabee has halted a negative ad that he was about to broadcast on television Monday against his Republican rival, Mitt Romney. But while claiming the moral high ground, he proceeded to show the ad to a roomful of reporters, photographers and television cameras who are repeating his anti-Romney message for free while Mr. Huckabee declares that his hands are clean.
The display unfolded at the Marriott Hotel here to the mirth of the journalists who watched Mr. Huckabee’s legerdemain even as they became the conduit for his attacks against Romney.
At the same time, he pointed to media cynicism as the reason he felt compelled to show the ad, saying that unless he showed it, reporters would not believe that it really existed. It criticized Mr. Romney’s record as governor of Massachusetts, saying he supported gun control, allowed a co-pay for abortions in his health plan, raised taxes and ordered no executions.
The Marriott is campaign central for the news media and many of the campaigns encamped in Iowa, so scheduling a press conference in the hotel was guaranteed to draw a good crowd. More than 60 journalists showed up, expecting what the Huckabee campaign had billed as the unveiling of his new attack ad against Mr. Romney.
The room itself was studded with posters criticizing Mr. Romney’s record. Mr. Huckabee spoke from a dais with his wife, Janet, standing silently off to the side, under a banner with his campaign slogan, “Enough is enough.”
View the ad at YouTube.com
What Makes This Ad Persuasive?
- Huckabee backed off and decided that be did not want to go negative. In this way, Huckabee was able to get his attack message out without appearing like he was launching a negative attack ad.
- Huckabee appeals to Mitt Romney's attacks on John McCain to help paint Romney as the candidate of negative attacks.
- There is an aura of excitement on the part of viewers at being able to see the "banned" and controversial ad.
2 comments:
The strategy reminds me of Richard Nixon's technique during his 1950 "Checkers Speech." Three times, he attacks the Democrats, but claims not be be (e.g., "I don't condemn Mr. Stevenson for what he did. But until the facts are in there is a doubt that will be raised.").
It also reminds me of LBJ's "Daisy ad," which actually did run once as a paid ad, but then got replayed over and over again for free. Free play is hard to beat.
I wonder if this is a tactic of limited usefulness? How often could one use this in a campaign?
I think the tactic proved quite useful for Governor Huckabee in Iowa.
(1) It enabled him to not look weak and unable to defend himself.
(2) It enabled him to stay above the fray of "negative ads" and dirty politics.
I would think that doing this too many times would backfire:
(1) You look indecisive and disorganized.
(2) You look like you are trying to trick voters.
(3) You alienate the media, who sees through the ploy.
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