Wetterling and Bachmann Ad Comparison

With Patty Wetterling’s release of her 1st TV Ad today, both major party 6th CD candidates have ads running on Minnesota stations.  And while neither ad is much more than is expected from a first-run spot, they do provide interesting signals as to where these candidates are going to build their foundations.

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Michele Bachmann’s ad (watch the ad here) is a very up-beat first look at the candidate’s background.  Shying away from real issue stances (sorry, talking about lowering taxes and creating “better jobs” don’t count as real issue stances) and instead talks about her family life and history as a tax attorney.  The real story here is that Bachmann doesn’t really highlight her strong conservative background.  As one of the few GOP candidates running this cycle who hasn’t shied away from President Bush and her major issue in the state legislature being a ban on gay marriage, it’s somewhat surprising that she doesn’t come out a little stronger off the bat.  The ad does, however, hint that “family values” will be a much repeated slogan in her campaign as much of the footage seems to aim at connecting her with that idea.

Patty Wetterling’s ad (watch it here) is also a very standard first-run ad.  Like Bachmann, Wetterling doesn’t really talk about any concrete issues (here talking about protecting families doesn’t really count as a real issue stance) but instead opts for a highlight real of her history of activism.  In this regard Wetterling’s video does seem much more substantive than Bachmann’s because it does at least review her past work in the political community whereas Bachmann provides virtually no review of her legislative record.  As we’ve seen in past Wetterling races, Patty is clearly rooting her candidacy in her work as a child advocate.

Overall neither ad ventures too far from the first-run model of providing candidate context.  Patty Wetterling’s ad does, however, provide more information about her previous political work than does Michele Bachmann’s ad.  But the effectiveness of each ad will probably boil down to personal preference.