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The Democratic Strategist

Political Strategy for a Permanent Democratic Majority

Is Romney running a “one-size-fits-all” ad campaign? “Nonsense”, says Romney’s pollster. “You could sure fool me” says Andrew Sullivan

Sometimes two blog items are so amusing when placed together that any additional commentary is unnecessary.
Here’s item one, a memorandum to interested parties from Neil Newhouse, Romney for President Pollster

Targeted Campaign: The Romney-Ryan campaign is running deeply local and targeted efforts in each of the states focusing on the voter groups that will make the difference on Election Day. Anyone asserting a “one-size-fits-all-campaign” effort is being put forward is simply misinformed, as evidenced by the 15 different ads released by the Romney Ryan campaign this past Friday and now running in nine states, including Wisconsin.

And here’s item Two: Andrew Sullivan commenting at the Daily Beast

…Above is a screenshot of the 15 new ads the Romney campaign is now airing in the eight core battleground states, each following an almost identical formula that hits Obama on economic issues tailored to each state. Every ad begins with the same cut from Romney’s convention speech:

This president can ask us to be patient. This president can tell us it was someone else’s fault. But this president cannot tell us that you’re better off today than when he took office

Then the ads pivot into state-specific claims:

Here in [state], we’re not better off under President Obama. [list of problems Obama is implied to be responsible for].
Romney’s plan? [list of generic GOP solutions], create [number] new jobs for [state].


The issues vary by state but include defense spending/national security, low home values, energy policy, the deficit, unemployment rates, government regulation, and trade/China. Some examples: In ads for CO, FL, NC, OH and VA, the Romney campaign says Obama’s “defense cuts will weaken national security and threaten [large #] of [state] jobs.”

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