Mitt's Media Blast

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CC - You said: "The ad itself is nicely produced -- kudos to Romney media consultant Alex Castellanos -- and seeks to present Romney as an outsider with a record of getting things done. Clips of Romney speaking on the campaign trail with narration that touts Romney's accomplishments both in and out of public life."

Well, you saw much more in this ad than I did. No specific accomplishments at all, just vague references to his "successes" and the fact he is for "motherhood and apple pie"... he doesn't touch Iraq.

About the kind of ad one would expect from an empty suit.

The buying of the presidency has begun....

http://whathappenedtomycountry.blogspot.com

Posted by: Truth Hunter | February 20, 2007 01:02 PM

mitt romney is the quintessential republican, but a very different kind from william or the king. romney is the kind that looks down from balconies and through limousine windows and out from behind podiums thinking, this is all for me. and thinking, i was destined for this - and, i know that god has blessed me and wants me to rule because i have been so financially successful. and thinking, the establishment of a disciplined right-wing order with religious overtones will further cement me in the minds of the masses as the prophet i am, and provide exactly the kind of ordered, productive society with which i am comfortable, and in which each knows his place and his assignment.

no, i can't read minds, but i have lived in massachusetts for 25 years. in that time, i have seen several governors, and romney has been unique both in his lack of interest in doing the job for which he was elected and his lack of respect for the people who elected him. as others have noted, his positions on social issues flapped in the winds of public opinion, tied to his ambition rather than to either ethics or common sense. as others have further noted, he spent the vast majority of the past year traveling the country and insulting the people of massachusetts to red-state audiences. trust me, we here were not laughing. the one clear memory i have of him during his last term in office was when following the tragic death of a woman crushed when a "big dig" concrete panel fell from the ceiling of a tunnel onto her car, he was photographed examining the tunnel with civil engineers. he was wearing a hard hat atop his executive suit - an image which called to mind mike dukakis riding in that tank in 1988. then, after firing the transportation chief - who he conveniently blamed for the entire situation - romney was off to campaign once again. on the state's dime, he not having announced for president yet. he's a phony, self-absorbed, disinterested hack, who would be wrong as president.

Posted by: meuphys | February 20, 2007 01:20 PM

What CC doesn't tell you about castellanos... this ad is waaaaay out of character for him... but he likely won't turn really vile until later.. interesting isn't it, that all the republican biggies are hiring hit men and smear merchants?

'It was during that 1994 Florida campaign, working for Jeb Bush's first but failed bid for election, that Castellanos showed why he's considered one of the fathers of the modern attack ad.

Castellanos launched a classic October surprise. Less than two weeks before the election, with his candidate ahead in the polls, Castellanos produced a raw, emotionally charged spot featuring a Florida mother whose 10-year-old daughter had been murdered in 1980. On camera, she complained that Chiles had refused to sign the killer's death warrant, "because he's too liberal on crime." Addressing the people of Florida, the mother said, "I know Jeb Bush. He'll make criminals serve their sentences and enforce the death penalty. Lawton Chiles won't."

The accusation produced panic inside the Chiles campaign. "We had done all the research [on relevant death sentence cases] and we couldn't figure out how we missed this guy," says Krog. Aides quickly unearthed the answer: Florida courts were still hearing the killer's appeal, making it impossible for Chiles to act.

The Palm Beach Post condemned the attack ad as a "despicable lie that proves again why Jeb [Bush] is unfit to be governor." The Orlando Sun-Sentinel accused Bush of demagoguery, protesting the spot was "shamelessly false, irresponsible and tasteless," while the Miami Herald complained it had "sunk to new depths."

The ads backfired on Bush, allowing Chiles to win one of the closest gubernatorial races in Florida history. "You've got to be sure of your facts. Even with a lot of money, bad facts override it every time," says Krog.

And that wasn't even Castellanos' most infamous attack ad. In 1990, working for Republican Sen. Jesse Helms of North Carolina, he produced perhaps the most racially divisive TV ad in campaign history. Called "White Hands," it featured an angry white worker crumpling up a job rejection notice. He had lost out because "they had to give it to a minority."

More recently, in 2000, his firm National Media produced an ad mocking Al Gore's stance on prescription drugs, flashing the word "RATS" on the screen for a split second. Castellanos denied using subliminal advertising. Forced on the defensive, Bush had to yank the spot.

Over the years Castellanos has produced a trail of caustic ads either pulled off the air, like the Bush spot in Florida, or judged by his own Republican clients to be too misleading or biting for public consumption. '