Mocking Republican videos aimed at wooing women, such as “Dating Profile” (which featured a woman talking about how she “fell in love” with Obama) and “Say Yes to Rick Scott” (a spoof of “Say Yes to the Dress”) liberal commentator Bill Scher offered some solid advice back in October: Stop being cute. Take a page from Eisenhower, and simply run first-person women testimonials.
It was a simple observation, but Scher (my Bloggingheads sparring partner) might just have cracked the code. As I recently noted at The Week, this formula was effectively employed by no less a savvy political operator than Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell, who recently defeated Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes. The most effective ads McConnell ran might have been the ones featuring his wife, Elaine Chao, talking directly to the camera.
And over at the Washington Post today, Karen Tumulty looks at how Republicans pushed back at the “war on women” attacks, and one of her findings seems to support Scher’s hypothesis. Writing about Maryland’s Republican governor-elect Larry Hogan, Tumulty notes that his campaign struggled with a way to respond to attacks which were coming “right out of the ‘war on women’ playbook”:
“As they considered the alternative versions of the ad, they realized they had found the perfect emissary — one who could speak not just to his positions, but also to his values.
“‘Let me tell you about my dad, Larry Hogan. He married my mom and became the father of three independent, strong young women,’ said the candidate’s daughter, who is Korean American and has the courtroom polish of a prosecutor, which she happens to be.
“‘These ads attacking him as anti-women are just wrong,’ Sterling added. ‘He’s the only candidate who favors over-the-counter birth control, covered by insurance. He’s committed to not changing current Maryland law on choice. Dad encouraged my sisters and me every step of the way. He loves this state — almost as much as he loves us.’
“The campaign’s final ads featured a series of women from around the state talking about economic concerns — in other words, emphasizing the issues that Hogan considered his biggest advantage, but using women to make the closing arguments.”
You can see the ad featuring Hogan’s daughter here:
Here’s another Hogan ad, featuring an African-American woman who tells us that Larry Hogan will be the first Republican she has ever supported:
… I actually saw this one on television in the DC Metro region, and it caught my attention. Again, note the template. Nothing fancy, just a real person talking sincerely to a camera.
This isn’t the only ingredient male Republicans will need to push back on these attacks (other factors, including policy, obviously matter), but it does seem like Republicans stumbled upon a valuable, if obvious, lesson for wooing female voters: Eschew the cute or clever ideas, and put a camera in front of a compelling female supporter — and let her testify.