Category Archives: US Legislative

WWE themed political attack advert

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Former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Linda McMahon is running for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in Connecticut, but she didn’t count on the Connecticut Democratic Party producing one of the most salacious and provocative political adverts I’ve ever seen.

Linda McMahon had previously defended WWE wrestling programming, saying, “There was a time when our program was TV-14, today’s it’s PG and our networks rate our programming… It’s fun, it has something for everyone within the show. It’s energetic, it’s entertaining. It’s music, it’s pyro, it’s pomp and circumstance, it’s what keeps people interested in the product.”

The Connecticut Democratic Party then took these words and relayed them over scenes from WWE showing simulated public sex and necrophilia.  I felt so incredibly uncomfortable watching this clip and it certainly made me feel worse about Linda’s candidacy, but I certainly wouldn’t be rushing to the polls to vote Democrat after watching it.

This is the sort of attack advertising that has the effect of driving down overall turnout and has little positive impact on the share of vote of either party.

Political Corruption iPhone Application

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This ‘pay 2 play’ iPhone application was launched last week and enables iPhone users to have a go at being a corrupt politician.  It’s inspired by the recent corruption saga of an ex-Illinois Senator Milorad “Rod” R. Blagojevich (his name genuinly contains the word ‘blag’).

The game’s description in the application store:

“Ever wanted to be an Illinois governor? Well now you can! Pay2Play is the game of trading and danger. How much money can YOU make selling senate seats? Head all over Illinois trading your way to success! You have 30 days to pay back the unions, make tons of cash, and get out of town all before getting impeached!”

Making mocking iphone applications could be the political advertising ‘attack’ medium of the future.  They can impart information in a powerful yet light-hearted and  interactive way.  Not only that, they’re free to distribute and are the sort of thing you’d willingly show your friends.

The Family Man

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This political commercial is for Scott Murphy in the upcoming special election in New York State to replace Senator Kirtsten Gillibrand.  I like my extended family as much as the next guy, but I would never recomend – no matter how squeeky clean appearances might be – using over 30 family members as a platform for a first campaign ad.

It immediatley brings those family members’ lives within the realm of investigation and analysis when previously they would have almost certainly been ignored.  Not only does this open up the risk for potentially harmful revelations, it also places a huge and unfair burden on the choices these family members make in their lives for the entire campaign and, to an extent, the tenure of office (if he wins). 

Was anything more damaging to the Conservative Party’s credibility under John Major than the “back to basics” campaign?