Richardson Grok
Richardson Ads Pretty Darn Funny
By Emily Esterson , 5-14-07
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Maybe all that hob-nobbery with Hollywood is paying off: New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson’s first TV ads are winning three and four stars from everyone from the Albuquerque Journal’s Jim Belshaw to bloggers. Belshaw, whose column was reprinted on Hispanicbusiness.com, notes that comedy is pretty hard for a politician, but Richardson’s ads are pretty darn funny. The ads are only playing locally in Iowa and New Hampshire. And YouTube, of course.
Some pundits, writes Belshaw, have noted that Richardson doesn’t look quite presidential enough; others say the tactic is perfect in a time when the American public surely wants a little levity in its politics.
There is nothing at all funny about CSPAN, where Richardson has appeared frequently. Nor is Meet the Press a laugh a minute. So Richardson, seemingly in an effort to appear as a jolly good everyman, appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on Friday night. The two discussed baseball and Richardson’s diplomatic missions to Darfur and North Korea, among other subjects.
The Washington Post weighs in about the value of advertising this early in a campaign cycle. WAPO notes that it can be political suicide, or akin to flushing money down the drain. But Richardson, like Mitt Romney (Republican) is out to get name recognition in a terribly crowded market.
On the “I’m Hispanic, really I am” front, Richardson recently taped an hour-long interview in Spanish with Viva Voz, the radio arm of the Spanish language public TV station V-Me. He also stopped in Monterey Park, where Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina hosted a campaign stop at a Mexican restaurant. The article in the Whittier, Calif. newspaper noted a recent poll shows Hilary Clinton’s approval rating at 38 percent, followed by Barack Obama at 24 percent. John Edwards is at 12 percent. Richardson’s ratings is at 5 percent, an increase by 2 percent over the past two months. Race, the newspaper wrote, could be an important factor in this campaign.
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