By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog
If there were ever two campaign ads that, when compared side-by-side, told you everything you’d need to know about the respective candidates behind them, Save Jerseyans, then these ads are defintiely it!
Exhibit #1: Barbara Buono’s first televised ad of the 2013 cycle, “Another New Jersey,” is hitting the airwaves on Thursday morning in the NYC media market and it’s probably her best paid advertisement to date. But that’s not saying much. Veteran NJ political pundit/journalist Bob Ingle commented earlier Wednesday that “her ads have been dreadful.” Bob’s being very kind. Her latest web ad would be great fodder for SNL is anyone outside of Trenton knew and/or cared who she was. You be the judge concerning her latest attempt:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elgRJ0UBGoc
You can tell Buono’s team is trying to do a lot with a little. They need to introduce a virtually unknown candidate while simultaneously taking a shot at the incumbent; this type of contrast ad is extremely hard to pull off in an effective manner.
Exhibit #2: Meanwhile, not to be outdone by his underfunded challenger, Governor Chris Christie preempted Senator Buono with a brand new 30-second television spot, “Timeline,” that began airing statewide on Wednesday:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcmWKwUAh8E
Christie’s job is much easier than Buono’s despite a persistently sluggish state economy. Back in April, Buono admitted (amazingly) on MSNBC how had done his job during Sandy and, even more amazingly, failed to name a significant Christie action or policy which she would’ve handled differently. Yikes, right? Given Buono’s two decade-long Trenton career and close association with unpopular past administrations, the current Governor’s team is betting that they can triumph by simply saying “hey… you don’t want to head back in THAT direction, do you?”
It’s a strategy that, ironically, got President Obama by Mitt Romney in 2012. We fully expect it to work for Governor Christie this year, too, the key difference being that the facts are actually on this incumbent’s side.
