Framing: upping the anteDavid Hann and Kirk Stensrud T.V. ads help defeat opponents Ron Case and Maria Ruud
“In every political advertisement there is a message … while we may not perceive it right away and it may not be “100% truthful,” it is there. It’s all about motivating us to think one way … some may even call it propaganda.”
Others call if framing. In the case of the last District 42 A and B state election you might call it one uppmanship.
Mr. Stensrud, now Representative Stensrud, evidently unbeknownst to most voters is a local SW Metro Tea Party small business owner candidate/representative, (see PDF) ran negative campaign ads against Maria on cable stations.
Who paid?
1. Who paid for the T.V. ads Hann and Stensrud ran against Ron and Maria.
2. Has MNGOP ever run ads (on a state legislative level) in our district before?
3. Were they on cable only?
4. How much was spent on each?
Peter Bozanich, whose job it is to provide content for the District 42 web site, stated somewhat defensively that he did not know the answers to any of the questions.
In the email Grassel stated that “the ad for Stensrud was not run by MNGOP. Grassel also stated, “I do not believe they ran any local candidate ads. I do not know if they did any television ads in the district this year or any before.”
Grassel did say, “However, this was the first time the local senate district ran television ads in the district.”
As for the Stensrud ad, Grassel said, “A coalition of small business owners was supporting Rep-elect Stensrud and ran ads in the district; I don't know any of the details of their ads, including the amount they spent.”
Grassel said SD42 GOP spent a significant amount on the ads, which can be obtained from our publicly disclosed finance reports.
The SD42 GOP ad against Ruud made it very clear that politicians like her were part of Minnesota’s budget problems and in order to “Take Back Minnesota” they needed to elect her opponent, Ken Stensrud. The ad chastised her for voting yes on a bill that included wasteful spending on bird sanctuaries. Problem is Jennifer Loon (R) 42-B, who won her election, also voted yes on this bill, yet she was not attacked for doing so by her own party.
(Note that Take Back Minnesota is down for maintenance and is accessible only via log in and password as of 11-28-10.)
In the Economist View, The Framing Effect, “When political marketers highlight obscure or minor negative information about a candidate, they are “framing” that information in a way that makes the candidate look bad.”
Well, of course that was the intent.
In Maria’s case, the information used against her was not in context with the fact that the bird sanctuaries she voted for were also supported by Republican candidates, who were not framed as irresponsible spenders. Case in point Eden Prairie’s Jenifer Loon (R) SD42B.
In an email Norbert Gernes, Chair DFL SD 42, stated that the local DFL has never produced a TV ad for or against a candidate. To the best of his knowledge they have never produced a negative ad of any kind.
DFL SD 42 does produce a public access TV program called Democratic Visions, which airs on channel 15. Various campaigns have, with permission, used portions of those TV broadcasts in their campaign advertising. DFL SD 42 had nothing to do with the production or content of their advertising, and those segments were positive not negative.
There were some very negative TV ads this year, Gernes said. To the best of his knowledge they ran on public access TV.
Mr. Gernes says negative ads do appear to have an impact on elections.
“Political marketers have known that negative ads often work. 100% of the viewers will have at least some emotional response to the negatively-phrased information.”
Gernes said this was the first year he was aware of negative TV ads for SD 42 races. He is not certain if there were or were not negative TV ads for SD 42 candidates in the past.
By using endorsements on a local level and paid advertising on a state level, Republicans have upped the ante, making it more expensive for opposing candidates to compete on a both a local and state level, forcing them to seek even more funding in order to run a competitive campaign. |
| Last Updated on Tuesday, 07 June 2011 20:38 |
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Prairie Politics Live
Saturday, 11 December 2010 22:42
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This past election Maria Ruud (D) 42-A lost her election to Kirk Stensrud by 100 votes.
We asked both MNGOP SD42’s webmaster Peter Bozanich and its Co-Chair Jake Grassel the following questions related to MNGOP’s negative T.V. advertising against Ruud and Case:
According to Jake Grassel, co-chair of SD42 GOP, who was candid and polite in his email response, the costs were paid for by SD42 GOP in support of David Hann's campaign and against Ron Case, his DFL opponent. It was a 2 week spot that ran on approximately 9 channels including ESPN, CNN, Discovery Channel, and similar channels during Primetime. Cable only.
Ron Case was the first to face off against party endorsements on a local city council level when he ran against Phil Young, who was endorsed by the local Republican Party and ran for Mayor in 2006, i.e. upping the ante, endorsement, money advantage and identification with a particular party. The Eden Prairie Tax Payers Alliance also ran a negative campaign against Case. The distorted view of Case’s record has always been out of context with the city’s growth and facility construction approved by the public.