Sigh. Is that all you got, McCain?
Election Central reported that the McCain campaign was sinking a decent amount of cash into showing the now-infamous Britney/Paris ad around the country.
I know that I'm supposed to understand that this ad is a genius ad, with all the subtle imagery included in it, and it might be, but I have some questions about it.
1. Why did the McCain take ownership of this? The RNC should have done it. McCain has provided Obama with a nice opportunity to keep saying "McCain keeps running ads about Britney Spears, and I'm out here trying to help you. Who do you want as President?" He'd have less of an opportunity to make that point had the RNC run the ad.
2. Who were the focus groups? There's a short story in today's McClatchy claiming that the ad might be hurting Obama, but when you read it, there's just not much there.
The study says:
But the results that may have been most telling were the changes in whom the participants would vote for and suggested that such advertising could have an impact, especially among independents. Before viewing the ad, 75 percent of the Democrats said they would vote for Obama. After viewing the ad, that percentage was 72, while undecideds rose from 13 to 15 percent and those favoring other candidates rose from 3 to 4 percent.So 75 to 72? And it goes on:
Similar results were recorded for Republicans and Independents. Republican support for Obama dropped from 8 to 6 percent, while McCain's percentage remained unchanged at 74 percent. Undecideds rose from 16 to 18 percent, however. Only among independents did the drop in Obama's percentage, from 44 to 43 percent, accrue to McCain, whose support went from 33 top 34 percent.In other words, the ad had no effect. This is a tiny study (N = 300+), and maybe the ad will have a cumulative effect, but right now, I don't see the advantage for McCain. He's spending money to show this, he's tied directly to it, it provides a great soundbite for Obama, and the effectiveness of it remains in question.
