Political Ads

Martin O'Malley: Political Ads

The Ads that I have chosen to talk about are all from Martin O'Malley's 2005 campaign for Governor of Maryland. He was the incumbent and he won the election.

This ad is an image ad. It doesn't focus on just one issue, but rather all the positive things O'Malley has done as governor.

Strategies: In the background of the ad you can hear light and happy music playing softly which adds to the notion that this is a positive ad, not an attack ad. The narrator has a deep, strong, manly voice, but it's not too loud or harsh. It's masculine but not aggressive. The imagery is O'Malley working in his office and working within the community. This shows that O'Malley is hard working both in the office but also takes the time to go into the community. Because he is the incumbent, they talk about the positive record that he has as governor and also mention that Time Magazine named him one of the best governors  in America.

I have noticed that incumbent's opponents usually put out more attack ads because they have more to go off, and I think that's a large reason why O'Malley decided to go with a light hearted positive ad. Instead of talking about what the other candidate lacks he was able to talk about all the positive things he has done as governor of Maryland.

This ad is also an image ad. No real one issue or statistic is brought up, but instead it's former President Bill Clinton talking up O'Malley as a person and a candidate. 

Strategies: Traditionally Maryland has always leaned blue as a state, so it was definitely a strategy to have Bill Clinton tell people to vote for,  "his good friend" Martin O'Malley. Another strategy is that it wasn't an ad where someone was just throwing a bunch of statistics and numbers at you, rather it was a former president building up a candidates' character. Clinton keeps the language vague but that allows him to say more positive things in a 30 second ad. They show images of O'Malley and Clinton together as a way of validating his, "good friend" statement. 

Bill Clinton uses words like "dedication" and "making a difference" throughout this ad to  emphasis that Martin O'Malley has done positive things for Maryland. Again, there is light hearted and soft music playing in the background which keeps the ad positive and not aggressive. We can start to see a pattern in O'Malley's ads as an incumbent that he is focussing on highlighting his positive records rather than attacking his opponent. Because of how light hearted this ad is it doesn't ever feel like he is trying to defend his record, but simply just talk about it. 

This ad is more of an issue ad because it focusses on what Martin O'Malley has done to reduce crime in Maryland as governor.

Strategies: This ad opens with a quote from a newspaper that highlights the fact that Maryland has become safer since Martin O'Malley took office. It then goes into a diverse group of individuals talking about how they have noticed a difference. They have a range of people who talk including everyday citizens, executives, and even a police officer. They don't attack his opponent, but they do defend O'Malley from an attack ad that his opponent produced.

The use of a police officer was a good strategy for this ad. When talking about public safety and crime rates, who better to have the discussion with than a police officer? Especially a police officer from Baltimore which has had safety issues in the past. It also features people who say that O'Malley worked directly with them to improve public safety which gives them validation. One strategy that stood out to me was the lady who said, "Things aren't perfect, but they are getting better." I think this was effective. A lot of political ads try to make candidates sound like they have created a perfect state and this acknowledges that it's not perfect, but O'Malley has made it better and will continue to make it better if he gets reelected. It gives a sense of hope that if O'Malley is reelected that Maryland will keep getting closer to perfection.

Personal Side Note

On a more personal note, I got the opportunity to meet former Governor Martin O'Malley a couple of weeks ago in Topeka, KS. He was the keynote speaker at the Kansas Democrats annual convention, Washington Days. Unfortunately I wasn't able to see his speech, but I was able to shake his hand and get a picture with him. It was a pretty cool experience to meet someone who could potentially be a very serious candidate for president in 2016. 

Polling

Polling

Even though the presidential race is a ways away, the media is buzzing about politicians that are expected to run. All of the major news outlets and polling data point to pretty much the same candidates. However, some candidates look more promising than others. The Republican Party is predicted to have more bids for president than the Democratic Party. Hillary Clinton is dominating the media buzz when it comes to the Democrats, which could potentially discourage other Democrats from running. However, there are about 5-6 Democrats that are continuously being talked about when it comes to presidential candidates and Martin O'Malley is one of them. 

Below is a poll taken by CNN asking Democrats and Independents who lean to the left which Democratic candidate they would most likely vote for.

Because Hillary Clinton is the clear frontrunner in this survey, they asked Clinton supporters who their second choice would be. 

What The Polls Mean For Martin O'Malley

These polls are helpful in many ways because they show who has the most support within the Democratic Party, however it's too early to put a lot of emphasis on these polls. Martin O'Malley is definitely in the conversation about the 2016 presidential race, but these polls show that he has a lot of work ahead of him. In previous blog posts I have discussed the issue of the other potential candidates being more nationally known, and these polls highlight that weakness. Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and Elizabeth Warren are the most well known Democrats who could potentially run for president, but Clinton is proving to be the most well known name. 

What these polls mean for O'Malley is that he is going to have to work. It's a positive that he is being talked about as a potential candidate and he should use that momentum to begin building his candidate image. Because he is not as well known he's not being criticized as much as some of the other potential candidates, but it also means that he is not being talked about as much. 

Ballotpedia gave a slight bio on all the potential 2016 presidential candidates, and this is what they said about O'Malley:

This quote was given about two months ago which leads me to believe that he will most likely run in 2016. His campaign team needs to study the polls and begin working on a plan to get his name and his political accomplishments out into the public. O'Malley definitely has a mountain to climb based on these polls, but it's still very early and it can be done. 

Because Clinton has been dominating the media buzz for the Democrats, there were rumors that O'Malley might consider running for Senator instead of presidential bid. However, politico just confirmed that these rumors are untrue.  

Conclusions

There are many things that people can take away from political polls, but they can be hard to rely on so early into the race. It is clear that O'Malley has a lot of work ahead of him, but he's already started climbing the mountain. He's giving speeches at Democratic events, he's amping up his social media and he's building up his candidate image. I expect these polls to change quite a bit throughout the race and I think we will start to see O'Malley be more prominent. 

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/03/martin-omalley-barbara-mikulski-senate-seat-115691.html

http://www.pollingreport.com/wh16dem.htm

http://ballotpedia.org/Possible_presidential_candidates,_2016