Political Advertising

On Madison Avenue, it is a truism that you cannot sell at any price what people don't want. Milk past its due-date cannot be sold at any price, for example. Clever advertisers can promote a product in such a way such that even the most questionable product can have an allure. An example is the Army Strong campaign to attract military recruits into an unpopular and deadly war.

This principle is true also in politics. Despite spending more than $200 per voter, Romney lost the Iowa campaign. Today, New Hampshire is flooded with more political commercials and mailers. I doubt that many people will switch their votes on the basis of this kind of marketing. Political viewpoints emerge generally from a blending of two sources-- raw fact and images, such as most people get from debates and news stories-- and also from word of mouth of friends and family.

Once these view points take hold, they are difficult to reverse, either by a new set of facts and persuasion or by attack propaganda. What is even more difficult to reverse is when these views aggregate into a trend becoming a force of nature that can only keep going in the same direction. This may be happening to the deteriment of Romney and Clinton at present. I predict a further erosion of support for their candidacies and it may be only a matter of time before they both throw in the towel.