"...we think they will reach people people sick to death of politics as usual and hungry for change."

Hey Jake, shouldn't that be "thirsty for change"? :)

I think Kari has "tapped" into something and makes a good point.

Creative, to be sure. That he'd be a different kind of Senator does not logically follow from the fact that he looks different any more than the fact that Condi Rice looks different than Darth Cheney means that she's any less of a political hack. But then this ad seems more about preaching to the web choir than anything else.

I liked Novick's other ad a lot. It effectively got his message out.

This one? I think this gimmicky ad makes Novick look like a caricature.

but hey thats just my two cents

Speaking of 2 cents how much money is Novick spending on web ads that will be seen only like 5-7k times by not necessarily 5-7k people either due to some people watching it more than once?

Speaking of 2 cents how much money is Novick spending on web ads that will be seen only like 5-7k times

You do know that TTTT was on a two week buy, bolstered by the very successful fundraising campaign to get it on Letterman and Oprah, right? I think it might have gotten seen by a touch more than 7500 people. The YouTube version has 10K by itself, nearly. And now that both ads are being featured at Huffington Post's news page today, I suspect a few more than that will see this one.

Whatever Steve is spending, it's still not as much as Merkley is burning through, I'm sure. :)

"I think it has gone too far because it has played a central role in nearly every one of his campaign pieces (ads, shirts, lit, etc)"

I don't see how the hook is any different from Barry Goldwater's Black glasses, Paul Simon's bow tie, John Heniz and his pickle...the list goes on. All of these folks were great Senators, and all had something that identified them in the campaign.

I think it's a good ad for its target audience on the web. It's a lot funnier than the tv spot, but it doesn't say much else about Novick and it's not going to convince any undecided voters who are flipping through the channels. It is quite clever though.

Petrichor, two things.

1. Take a breath. Now take another. Feel better yet? Take another. Repeat as necessary. Trust me, it's for your own good.

2. You really need to get out more often. "Preaching to the choir" isn't actually about "preaching" at all. It's a figure of speech.

I think it is a creative ad and will stick in people's minds.

I wouldn't underestimate the amount of mileage Steve could get out of the hand (how's that for mixing metaphor?).

One of the things that was brought up about Sen. John Tester in almost every story about him during his campaign was that he lost fingers in a meat grinder accident as a boy. It was one of the things that some people saw as a story hook (couldn't resist that one). After Tester won, even Rahm Emanuel got into the action and started mentioning the fact that he'd lost his finger to a meat slicer at Arby's.

I don't know that Tester made his missing fingers a part of his advertising, but then again it's a lot easier for people to overlook the fact that a big, burly guy is missing a few fingers than it is for them to miss an entire missing hand on someone shorter than five feet.

I think the ad is great, and I wholeheartedly agree with much of what has been said about Steve using his memorable qualities to back up his strongly issue-focused campaign.

And another great Tester ad, this one about his flat-top haircut.

It's a great ad. He's making a joke, not a joke of his candidacy. If he had nothing to back it up, it would be a bad thing, but Steve has been pretty policy-forward, so I think this only helps him.

HOWEVER, that looks a whole lot like a Widmer Hefeweizen. Would someone PLEASE consult me the next time you use a beer in a political context. Widmer Hef is not the beer to get the job done. A better choice: BridgePort Blue Heron.

(I'll let the undergrads mine that one for symbolism.)

Oh, and I'm a Merkley supporter.

Posted by: torridjoe | Jan 28, 2008 12:24:55 PM

Y'know, for someone who isn't listed as an official part of the campaign and ostensibly only speaks for himself, TJ seem incredibly well informed about the inner workings of the Novick campaign.

"I disagree with Carl Fisher about Steve simply playing up something iconic about himself (e.g. Paul Simon's bowtie or Barry Goldwater's glasses)"

I never said he was simply "playing up" his hook. What I was trying to say was that it is ok for Steve to use his hook as much as he wants to promote his campaign.

TJ seem incredibly well informed about the inner workings of the Novick campaign.

Well, he may sound well-informed, but I'm here to tell you that the bottle in the ad is clearly a Widmer. It's too grainy to see the label--I judge it a Hef by the cloudiness in Steve's glass.

Well, he may sound well-informed, but I'm here to tell you that the bottle in the ad is clearly a Widmer. It's too grainy to see the label--I judge it a Hef by the cloudiness in Steve's glass.

Naw, that just means that he doesn't have your excellent taste in good brews. ;-)

I'm not saying definitively it's NOT a WidHefe, just that I'm skeptical. It IS nationally distributed, though--so maybe.

And I'll put my beer taste up against anyone's. They're not trying for Bavarian hefe, which is why Widmer's is pretty lame. Give me a Franziskaner, a Weihenstephaner (oldest brewery in the world!), or--my fave--Maisel's.

Definitely, a Widmer Hefeweizen. Compare the labels.

Tough problem for beer-loving Oregon Democrats: Do you go with the local beer? Or do you go with a union-made beer?

You see, there are no union-made local beers.

In 2002, at the Bus Project debate, they were offering candidates beers on stage (think it was Widmer). Kulongoski demurred, and pulled a union-made PBR out of his pocket.

The union folks in the crowd went nuts. The Oregon Brewer's Guild folks were less than happy -- after all, union jobs are good, but aren't local jobs better?

A few short days later, Kulongoski became the first politician to join the Oregon Brewer's Guild as a member.

My company built Ted Kulongoski's website in 2002 and 2006. I speak only for myself.

Although I don't really drink beer much these days, I gotta be honest and say that my tastes run closer to TJ's than Jeff's. Although, when push came to shove I went for Alsatian lagers as my first choice... To be more specific, Kronenbourg, which I developed a taste for when I briefly lived just outside of Geneva many years ago.

I'll never forget asking for a can of Budweiser on the Swiss Air flight back to the States when I was coming home. It was so revolting that I declined to drink anything beyond that first taste. Mind you, I was 19 and knew perfectly well that it would be the last alcoholic beverage I'd be able to legally drink for another couple years. But after having acquired a taste for Kronenbourg I just couldn't bring myself to drink the swill in the can.

Any truth to the rumors that Deschutes Brewery donates to Republican causes?

I've looked into this, over and over, because I love their beer. There are some minor donations, to both Rs and Ds, but nothing substantial. And it mostly looks like an in-kind donation of an event space...

good story, Kevin. The Swiss make pretty lame beer (cardinal is just the suck), but their wine is tremendous, particularly the whites. The bastards are greedy though; they export almost none of it.

And small world--my sis and her family live just west of Montreux, down the lake from Geneva.

Hayes does me extremely proud by recalling my beer typology.

A few things about which beer to use. Widmer is probably a bad call politically, because it's partly owned by Anheuser-Busch. Despite the poetic resonances, BridgePort would also be bad--it's owned by a (ready) Texas company. In the old days, Henry's would have been a no-brainer; it was a union shop. But these days, the choice is actually pretty clear: Full Sail. It ain't union, but it's local and it's employee-owned. Not bad.

Plus, if he'd gone with the Session, it would have appealed to those Obama-voting kids.

(As to my beer tastes, they are enormously varied. But dark ales, hoppy ales, and anything made in Belgium all crowd near the top of my list. Here are the best Oregon brews.)

it's not AIMED at Smith, nitin rai. It's an intro ad for the broader net community, not just Oregon. Thanks to the DSCC's early intervention, many people outside OR don't even realize there's a competitive primary going on.

A note on politically-correct beers -- Rogue Brewery was the only Oregon brewery that didn't come out against an increase in the desperately needed, hopelessly out-of-date beer tax. So, in our house, we suffer so (ha ha) and drink Rogue as a matter of principle. Just standing up for what's right. You know, making the sacrifice. The more the better.

FWIW, here's the obit I wrote in 2004 for Mac MacTarnahan here at BlueOregon. I still miss him.

And small world--my sis and her family live just west of Montreux, down the lake from Geneva.

It's a gorgeous part of the world. I hope you've taken advantage of her living there and visited. If not, you really should.

I actually lived in Collonge-sous-Saleve which is literally on the French/Swiss border due South of Geneva. If you've ever been in the immediate area, it's at the base of the cliffs where the hang-gliders take off from. Unfortunately I was on the French side. Fortunately, Geneva was was a very short trip away. ;-)

Oh Kristin, don't get me started again.

Jack, I'd call the torque issue "poetic license." (And you expose yourself as a real beer geek and/or homebrewer to know which beers are twist-top. That issue ran through my mind as I was watching the ad. But perhaps you can take verisimilitude too far.)

Posted by: torridjoe | Jan 28, 2008 4:02:23 PM Thanks to the DSCC's early intervention, many people outside OR don't even realize there's a competitive primary going on.

Totally absurd assertion. Outside of a sprinkle of DSCC emails which don't mention Noivick, almost every article online or off by the media mentions that the primary race has two main candidates. Your assertion is victimology vaporware.

Frankly, I'm just shocked that he used a non-Oregonian in the ad. I mean, what self-respecting Oregonian doesn't have a beer opener on his or her key chain (besides, well, Steve Novick)?

I suppose this plays better than an ad highlighting the "only candidate who doesn't need an oven mitt" line that Novick has used over the years -- harder to appeal to the bakers in the audience in web humor perhaps?

I'd use a Terminal Gravity beer in the ad. Relatively small brewery, tastes much better than Full Sail, plays to the east of the state, so forth (is it locally owned? not sure.)

Of course, Widmer has done well by supporting the local brewing movement with their collaborator beers, and have supported all sorts of good causes like the Bicycle Transportation Alliance, Coalition for a Livable Future, etc. And while it's a different-than-German-style hefe, I still argue Widmer hefe is a very good beer.

Oh, wait - the ad is attention-getting and continues with the theme of Steve being not a cookie-cutter candidate. I like it.

mitch, three senators have done national asks for Merkley, and they have funded him by an order of about 3 magnitudes over other DSCC-picked candidates. It's getting better NOW, because Novick is making a bit of a splash. But I could fill your inboz with links to stories that focus almost entirely on Merkley as the only Democrat of note. Simply mentioning his name does not create the sense of competition. In other pieces--such as Chris Cilizza's at the Post early on, his name was mentioned usually as a preface to "but Merkly is expected to win. " That does not evince competitiveness.

Just saw this. And yeah, I'm a huge Merkley supporter, but I have to say this one rocks, the way the video is cut relative to the dialogue made me laugh out loud.

Nice piece.

Even more bizarro assertion Mark, because some articles suggest that Merkley is the frontrunner and likely to win in the media, that is the doing of the DSCC?

So because Senators who have endorsed Merkley's bid sent out fundraising emails for Merkley that don't don't mention Novick, that proves that many people outside Oregon are unaware that there is a primary race in Oregon because of nefarious DSCC intervention?

I laughed out loud the first time and I laugh every time. This is a great ad, and more importantly, it is already extremely viral.

Lots of people who had never heard of Steve Novick have heard of him thanks to this ad. The rest is up to him and his campaign. But Steve unquestionably has the steak to go with the sizzle, so I think this creates a huge opportunity for him.

After reading this by Jeff Alworth:

A few things about which beer to use. Widmer is probably a bad call politically, because it's partly owned by Anheuser-Busch. Despite the poetic resonances, BridgePort would also be bad--it's owned by a (ready) Texas company. In the old days, Henry's would have been a no-brainer; it was a union shop. But these days, the choice is actually pretty clear: Full Sail. It ain't union, but it's local and it's employee-owned. Not bad.

I think its time for Jeff to stop holding out Oregon's craft brewing industry as weak and vulnerable if Oregon were to raise its $.008 (that's right eight-tenths of one cent) tax on a bottle of beer to a more reasonable level.

Why on BlueOregon does Jeff come to the defenses of Anheuser-Busch, a Texas company and others when the subject of taxes arises, but here when the topic of which beer is PC in a political ad he speaks the truth. Hummmmmmm.

Jeff,

You do realize that Oregon breweries were exempt from the tax, right? Only out of staters were expected to pay...

Kristin

Ack! I'm getting it from both sides, now! I'm happy to debate the (de)merits of the beer tax, but this is Steve's moment, so I'll belay that defense.

This is a good add.

But anyone from round these parts would agree that using a Henry Winehards would have been the better beer to use.

Not the better beer to drink, of course. that would be PBR - winner of the 2006 Great American Beer Festival Gold Medal for American-Style Lager.

Jeff: I dig the list on your other blog! Terminal Grav is awesome. Have you tried Deschutes' Abyss yet?

Evan: Can't wait to get my BTA/Cycle Oregon license plate next month!

Here's all I was able to find on ORESTAR:

Deschutes Brewery donated to Vicki Walker in late 2007 (a $120 in-kind) and to Chris Telfer for State Senate in late 2007 (a donation of $484.98). Everything else listed went to the Oregon Restaurant PAC except one donation to the Oregon Neighborhood Store Association Political Action Committee.

I don't know much about the Brewery, so I don't know who the owners and such are. I just pulled up a listing of everything in ORESTAR on the brewery, which basically covers 2006 through now, which was a total of 7 donations. Anything older than that will be in PDF format and therefore not easily searchable.

Lordy, petrichor, where did you find that link?! I 've been clicking around thatsite for a few minutes and it's like a car wreck - horrifying but oddly riveting to behold. The comments on Steve's ad are a weird cocktail of contempt and admiration.

I am still undecided in this race. I like this ad. I think they're diffusing some of the discomfort people might have towards someone who looks different

My cousin, who's about Steve's height because of some congenital hip problems and is a theater professor specializing in the depictions of the disabled in the media, is passing this around to the people in her field.

RE: Deschutes/GOP Donations

Folks, I think the confusion here is between Deschutes and its own Gary Fish. It's Gary who is a minor GOP contributor (search the FEC to see his history). Since 1998, he's given a little over $11k to three candidates: Smith, Wyden, and Greg Walden. $1900 went to Wyden, the rest to the Republicans.

I am a HUGE fan of Deschutes, and I have known Gary's a Republican backer for some time. There's no issue there. His company makes great beer, and he's a good citizen who is active in politics. I've never found he or his company to be anything but admirable. They're even going green.

So enjoy the beer and toast Gary Fish, who has managed to keep his brewery independent and growing.

That should be "owner Gary Fish"

Deschutes Brewery donated to Vicki Walker in late 2007 (a $120 in-kind) and to Chris Telfer for State Senate in late 2007 (a donation of $484.98). Everything else listed went to the Oregon Restaurant PAC except one donation to the Oregon Neighborhood Store Association Political Action Committee.

Thanks, Jenni.

John-Mark mentioned the owner, Gary Fish. (Thanks for that tip, JM!)

So, I looked up Gary Fish on both opensecrets.org (for federal) and followthemoney.org (for state).

Here's the combined numbers - from 1996 to 2007:

• He's contributed a total of $17,151 - $14,001 to Republicans, $3150 to Democrats.

• Among Democrats, that's $3000 to Ron Wyden, $150 to Mike Dugan (1996 candidate for Congress, now the County DA.)

• Among Republicans, that's $8423 to Gordon Smith, $2759 to Greg Walden, $1000 to Ron Saxton, $744 to Jack Roberts, $300 to Ben Westlund (now a D), $250 to Kathie Eckman, $225 to Bev Clarno, and $100 each to Wayne Scott, Neil Bryant, and Chuck Burley.

• Over those 11 years, he's donated an average of $1429/year, with a peak of $4835 in 2001.

• The above doesn't include nearly $3000 in refunds from the Smith campaign back to Gary Fish. I'm not sure what to make of those, so I didn't include 'em.

Anyway.... $17 grand is a lot of money, but spread out over 11 years? Not really. Heck, I gave more money than $1429 in 2007.

This looks to me like a prominent local businessman just dropping a few hundred bucks here and there when he's asked by local politicians. The larger amounts to Smith, Wyden, and Walden are probably in-kinds of his restaurant space (which he has to make as a personal donation, since Deschutes Brewery is a corporation, and thus prohibited from making in-kinds.)

Now, each person can determine what businesses they'll patronize, but as for me: If he were a seriously major donor, like $100,000 or something, I'd stop buying his beer.

But if I'm not going to start boycotting every business that donated a thousand bucks a year to Republicans. Otherwise, I can't go to Fred Meyer, Les Schwab, any number of restaurants, etc.

Personally, I think Mirror Pond Pale Ale is the best damn beer on the planet. I'd sacrifice that if Gary Fish were a Bush Ranger or something. But not for $1429/year.

Here's the details:

FISH, GARY 1/2/1996 $100 R Bryant, Neil FISH, GARY D 4/18/1996 $250 D Dugan, Mike FISH, GARY 11/18/1997 $400 D Wyden, Ron FISH, GARY D 12/8/1997 $250 R Eckman, Kathie FISH, GARY D 2/12/1998 $100 R Westlund, Ben FISH, GARY D 5/13/1998 $250 R Walden, Greg FISH, GARY D 8/31/1998 $250 R Walden, Greg FISH, GARY 9/4/1998 $500 D Wyden, Ron FISH, GARY 3/30/1999 $500 R Smith, Gordon H FISH, GARY 9/24/1999 $225 R Clarno, Bev FISH, GARY 2/24/2000 $500 R Smith, Gordon H FISH, GARY D 11/16/2000 $660 R Walden, Greg FISH, GARY 1/25/2001 $668 R Smith, Gordon H FISH, GARY 3/16/2001 $668 R Smith, Gordon H FISH, GARY 4/20/2001 $500 R Smith, Gordon H FISH, GARY 6/21/2001 $1,000 D Wyden, Ron FISH, GARY 6/29/2001 $1,000 R Smith, Gordon H FISH, GARY D 12/10/2001 $581 R Walden, Greg FISH, GARY D 12/10/2001 $418 R Walden, Greg FISH, GARY 1/23/2002 $744 R Roberts, Jack FISH, GARY 6/10/2002 $1,287 R Smith, Gordon H FISH, GARY 6/29/2002 $1,000 R Smith, Gordon H FISH, GARY D 9/27/2002 $100 R Westlund, Ben FISH, GARY 6/28/2003 $1,000 D Wyden, Ron FISH, GARY D 1/31/2004 $100 R Burley, Chuck FISH, GARY 2/12/2004 $100 R Scott, Wayne FISH, GARY D 3/18/2004 $100 R Westlund, Ben FISH, GARY 5/17/2005 $1,000 R Smith, Gordon H FISH, GARY 2/8/2006 $1,000 R Saxton, Ron FISH, GARY D 7/16/2007 $600 R Walden, Greg FISH, GARY 8/23/2007 $1,300 R Smith, Gordon H

Hmmm, I wonder why not all of those show up on the FEC site. Anyhoo, the upshot's the same.

"TJ, you can continue to be as angry at DSCC for 2008 as I was about 1996, but winning over voters to your candidate is a better revenge than just blasting DSCC."

Hey, if all I'd been doing since last August was "blasting DSCC," that might be good advice. Amazingly, I'm able to multitask.

have always preferred to grab a drink at the D&D across the street,

Wow. Who knew the D&D would still be in business after all these years. Back in the mid '70s The Palace Tavern was two doors up, and the D&D had only two classes of patrons, Bikers and Social Security pensioners. They served the strongest drink in town for the least money, Kinda like the old Kelly's Olympian in Portland.

Ayup, many a fight, drunks peeing in the payphone, the occasional gunplay, and the Old Guy that blew his check every month buying rounds, and then spent the rest of the month saying, "Remember that shot of Jack I bought you?"

Happy times........

Hmmm, I wonder why not all of those show up on the FEC site.

Because only federal donations show up on federal records... :)

<head slap=""> doh!