Campbell on the air

Tom Campbell is on the air, as a source tells me that Campbell ads have been spotted today on cable. I almost never watch TV unless the NFL or US Soccer is on, so I greatly appreciate the tip.

You can view "rough edits" of Campbell's TV spots on his website. Here are some dirty transcripts I worked up while in class:

Commercial one:
Campbell, on screen, flannel shirt, in what appears to be his study: I'm Tom Campbell. A lot has changed in our community, and change requires new leaders.

Other images on screen as Campbell narrates: Today some of the best and brightest have come to join us from other countries, Nasa is an integral part of our district. We need to provide economic growth for jobs as well as infrastructure to support that growth.

Random images of Campbell meeting folks: We cannot move forward with leaders who are distracted. I'm running for the future, our children's future, but I need your help. Vote for Tom Campbell, it's time to get back to the business that's important to us.

Commercial two:
Person 1: Integrity.
Person 2: Integrity.
Person 3: Integrity
Person 4: He's a man of integrity.
Anncr: Why do we need Tom Campbell in Congress?
Person 5: Tom Campbell is a man of integrity.
Person 6: Integrity and character
Person 7: We are raising our children in a challenging world and we need leaders who will be our examples.
Person 8: I'm worried about my children's future and I want leaders they can look up to.
Person 9: We need leaders that are concerned about our issues, and not about their own problems.
Person 10: Tom Campbell is a conservative at heart
Person 11: It's time for a change.
Person 12: It's time for a change in Washington.

They are a little fuzzy, presumably intentionally to give it a warm affect.

It's surprising to me that they aren't running any bio spots at all and the spots didn't overly impress me, however I'm a big fan of the idea that you can't judge media spots effectively until you've viewed an entire campaign. Nothing in campaigns happen in a vacuum. Good consultants weave it all together by the end of the campaign.

To date, I haven't heard of any direct mail pieces being dropped in the district by Campbell, which seems quite odd to me. Perhaps it is because of this (from a well-researched piece in the Houston Press):

With just three months to go before the primary, it's probably too late for Campbell to start a direct-mail campaign. Dick Richards, a former three-term chairman of the Utah Republican Party who was named chairman of the Republican National Committee during Reagan's first presidential term, is advising Campbell on jump-starting a grassroots campaign.

I'm thoroughly baffled. It is not true that three months is to late for direct mail, but it seems that Campbell or someone connected to his campaign must have suggested to the reporter that direct mail wasn't a good idea. If so, then perhaps Campbell's strategy is largely based on TV/radio spots. It doesn't seem to me like he's going to raise enough money for that to be very effective.

This post is pretty rough, but I need to go get other stuff done.


UPDATE: Right after I put this post up, I noticed that CQ just mentioned Campbell's spots as well. Apparently the second spot will run much less than the first, and the buy is indeed on local cable TV.

RANDOM THOUGHT WHILE UPDATING: Who thinks DeLay doesn't go on TV at all during the primary? It wouldn't surprise me.