Merkley: new ad, Convention speech
Kari Chisholm
This week, the Jeff Merkley for U.S. Senate campaign is airing a new ad.
Also, today, Merkley will appear at the Democratic National Convention - at roughly 4:30 p.m. Pacific Time. That's after the roll-call vote to officially determine the Democratic nominee for President.
While the cable networks will decide on-the-fly whether to air his speech, C-SPAN will certainly air the speech. The speech can also be viewed live and in high-def at DemConvention.com. (It requires the new Silverlight video player, so give yourself a few minutes to get set up.)
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8:50 a.m.
Aug 27, '08
Full disclosure: My firm built JeffMerkley.com, but I speak only for myself.
Aug 27, '08
Kari, thanks for that information. A question: since Kulongoski is not attending, does he send a proxy for his superdelegate vote, or....?
Aug 27, '08
The time for Merkley's speech was changed - he is now scheduled to speak at 3:45.
Aug 27, '08
The time for Merkley's speech was changed - he is now scheduled to speak at 3:45.
Aug 27, '08
Arial small caps?! Really?
Someone get that candidate a graphic designer, stat. The campaign ruined some perfectly good stock footage with an awful typeface.
(Lest someone think I'm being flip, it's truly an indication that the Merkley campaign is still running an operation that's not ready to take on Smith. A real media consultant wouldn't let a TV ad go out with amateur graphics like that.)
10:54 a.m.
Aug 27, '08
I submit that those who vote based on the font used are a statistically irrelevant demographic.
Seriously! Who gives a flying rodent's backside what the font is?
11:52 a.m.
Aug 27, '08
You are right, Kevin! I just viewed the ad again to see what Bob was talking about. I doubt anyone but him cares about the font. It's the message that counts.
Aug 27, '08
The point isn't that anyone at home looks at it and goes "Arial smallcaps!" -- it's that on a subconscious level, they see an ad that looks like something that came out of Microsoft Word 2000... it's cheap.
Production values matter, and that spot simply screams "we're running out of money." Even if voters don't make the conscious connection, it makes Merkley come across as a second-tier politician who's not ready for prime time.
Aug 27, '08
Bob, if you think most people would look at that ad and analyze the font and the production values, you need to get out more!
The people I know would be more likely to say,
"FINALLY! Someone is running a POSITIVE commercial and not yelling at us!"
12:56 p.m.
Aug 27, '08
hat spot simply screams "we're running out of money."
So how much more money would they have had to pay for Times New Roman or Tahoma?
Aug 27, '08
Don't you think that a media consultant might have said that the older font feels a little (just a little) less glitzy, and that given the ad's content, and looking for a contrast to Gordon Smith's rip-off of glitzy UofO's writing, this could be a great font for the ad.
Sort of like putting your candidate in a dress shirt with no tie. It's intentionally not putting your candidate in a pinstripe suit (ala Smith).
1:37 p.m.
Aug 27, '08
I love this ad. It's EXTREMELY appealing to me. I don't know if its the music, the font, the video..or the combination. But it makes me feel good--REALLY good about Jeff--when I watch it.
This ad draws people in, IMO.
Aug 27, '08
Got to love the DNC locking out non mac and windows users from viewing the convention. I guess the tents not big enough for open source operating systems.
Aug 27, '08
This one beat out Kevin's original proposal of Comic Sans MS. So Bob, it could have been much, much worse.
4:13 p.m.
Aug 27, '08
I'm a font junkie, and the use of Arial didn't bother me one bit. I didn't see the ad as coming across as cheap because of the use of the font. I have to admit, though, that I hate Times New Roman. On items like that, the sans serif fonts often come across easier to read.
<hr/>As to the convention speech...
Merkley did a pretty good job, although he wasn't quite as animated as I know he can be. His voice was a bit scratchy, so it may have been the case that he was a bit tired. Thanks to his speech we saw more of the Oregon delegation than we've seen all convention.
It was great that Merkley got that national face time with Democrats. This is one of those times that having the DSCC so solidly behind you really comes in handy.
4:16 p.m.
Aug 27, '08
Bob's just a Smith troll trying for payback on their own font "scandal"
4:16 p.m.
Aug 27, '08
Also, when I saw this ad for the first time a few nights ago, I immediately turned to my husband and said "this is absolutely my favorite Merkley ad to date."
I know I've heard the music before, and I can't quite place it. But I really liked the ad - it was positive, it tells you a lot, and it stands out.
4:22 p.m.
Aug 27, '08
Jeff came across great on TV. I did hear the hoarseness in his voice, tho. Of the Senate candidates..he was definitely the best on television..although I do think Shaheen was good, too.
4:45 p.m.
Aug 27, '08
I agree - he did great among the crowd of other Senate candidates. I thought he did a good job of looking around the crowd and looking more comfortable, rather than a deer in the headlights like some. And I loved how his face would light up a bit when looking towards the crowd from Oregon - it showed the love he has for Oregon.
It's always hard when you go to someplace with a different climate - sore throats and such often follow.
4:54 p.m.
Aug 27, '08
Will somebody please YouTube/GoogleVideo Jeff's convention speech and post a link here so we can link from the local party sites etc? Thanks, Glen
Aug 27, '08
Hey everyone-
The video has been uploaded to the campaign's website. Here's the link:
http://www.jeffmerkley.com/2008/08/jeff_merkley_dnc_address.php
You can find the separate Youtube link in there.
Thanks!
Aug 27, '08
Well I'm not a font junkie, just someone who stares at a million e-mails a day in Arial 10-point (or whatever size) in my Outlook, year after year, world without end, seemingly.
I would never have recognized that font as Arial if everyone hadn't existed. It's not a standard version that comes with Microsoft, I don't think -- rounder than normal, not as bold as Bold and neither Black nor Narrow. I'm telling you, I have seen all those standard fonts 5 - 7 days a week for maybe 10 years.
So I don't understand why anyone would worry about it looking "cheap." If I didn't recognize it, practically no one will. Unless it is used on Macs or something.
6:22 p.m.
Aug 27, '08
I watched it on my computer at work, trying to figure out what Bob the Troll was complaining about, but the bandwidth was just too constricted and most of it wouldn't even load before it was over. Tried it half a dozen times with the same results.
Just watched it again on my home computer and can finally appreciate it as it was designed to be viewed.
LOL - nice shot of me scratching my head there towards the end.
I think I'm going to echo Jenni here and say that this is definitely my fav Merkley ad so far!
6:48 p.m.
Aug 27, '08
KATU says that the Smith campaign said they will soon have a response to Merkley's speech. Can't wait to see it.
Aug 28, '08
I thought Jeff's speech could have been a lot better, but it wasn't awful. I guess not being used to that setting had its effect; it seems to me that it must have been extremely difficult giving a speech in a huge hall when most of the people there (with the obvious exception of the OR delegation) weren't paying attention. FWIW, his teleprompter technique could use a bit of polishing. The line about Smith talking like Obama but voting like Bush is a good one, but the delivery is important, too; it needs some work. The good news is he was way better than Bayh or Reed and way, way better than Schumer. Beat Smith!
Aug 28, '08
This ad gave me chills from the first note. And I'm kind of a snob about political ads.
To me, the everyday font says that Jeff Merkley is approachable, secure enough in his coolness to not have to pay big bucks for a "see and be seen" font (puh-leeze), and has hired people who know how to spend precious campaign dollars wisely.
[Disclosure: Everyone I know, trust, and work for (like the Longshore union), is supporting Jeff Merkeley for U.S. Senate.]
Aug 28, '08
This ad gave me chills
I mean the good kind. Like when something really speaks to you and draws you in.
<h2>Other candidates give me chills sometimes, but not the kind I like. Like the smiley guy who takes his daughter on a motorcycle without a helmet. Ewww.</h2>