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Bob Schaffer's First Campaign Ad

by: Colorado Pols

Wed May 14, 2008 at 12:30:16 PM MDT


UPDATE #4: Not to be outdone, the Rocky Mountain News reports:

They say faith can move mountains. Apparently, so can political campaigns.

But when a television ad for the Republican Bob Schaffer's campaign for U.S. Senate mistakenly switched Mount McKinley in Alaska for Pikes Peak in Colorado, the consequences can be rugged and steep.

"I am very frustrated," said Schaffer campaign manager Dick Wadhams, who admitted the mistake and said a corrected ad will be on the air by Wednesday night.

"What is frustrating about it is that when we saw the rough cut of the ad we asked the media consultant to check that," Wadhams added. But after being reassured that the mountain was a "stock photo" image from Colorado, the ad ran.

It didn't take long, though for some mountaineering Democrats to climb all over the error. The Web site ColoradoPols posted the discovery, leading several activists to contend that the error says more about Schaffer than his media consultant.

"For Schaffer, who comes from Ohio, to not know the most important mountain in Colorado is just foolish," said Mike Huttner, executive director of the liberal group Progress Now Action.

Wadhams, however, defended the accuracy of the rest of the ad...

UPDATE #3: "We're sorry, this video is no longer available." And as Politics West reports:

A frustrated Dick Wadhams, Schaffer's campaign manager, conceded the mistake and said the ad would be pulled and re-edited with Colorado mountains. Wadhams said that the campaign raised the issue with their media consultant during rough cuts, directing them to make sure the mountain shots were authentic - something that obviously didn't happen. But for an ad meant to underscore Schaffer's strong ties to his home state, it's exactly the kind of screw-up the campaign doesn't want to make. This is going to be an incredibly hard-fought campaign and one the Republicans desperately need to win. Why give your Democratic opponent those kinds of easy hits?

UPDATE #2: Liberal activist group Progress Now is calling for the ad to be immediately pulled--release follows. Quotable quote: "To Schaffer, who came here from  Ohio, all mountains probably look the same, but Coloradans with common sense know better."

UPDATE: Diligent fact-checkers have found that the mountain featured in this ad, the theme of which is "Colorado is My Life," is in fact Alaska's world-famous Denali, otherwise known as Mt. McKinley. Which isn't in Colorado, as most elementary school students know. Oops!

This isn't a big deal on its own, but taken within a pattern of behavior it makes Schaffer's campaign look sloppier and sloppier. Bob Beauprez's campaign for governor in 2006 unfolded in much the same way--a series of small blunders that gradually built into one giant ball of crap.

Released today alongside opponent Mark Udall's first ad.

Title: "The Change We Need."

UPDATE: The original video was removed by the Schaffer campaign after only a few hours--but apparently not fast enough to avoid it being re-recorded for posterity (below, original now-dead video is after the jump).

Colorado Pols :: Bob Schaffer's First Campaign Ad

Schaffer Fumbles "Colorado Common Sense" in New TV Ad:
Claims Denali is Pike's Peak

Call for Schaffer to Pull Ad Immediately

For Immediate Release
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Michael Huttner
(303) 931-4547 cell

Denver -- Bob Schaffer launched a new television ad in Colorado where he claims to have "Colorado Common Sense" while falsely claiming that Denali (Mt. McKinley) is Pike's Peak.

"That Schaffer would claim "Colorado common sense" when he doesn't know the difference between Pike's Peak and Denali in Alaska shows he's a fool," stated Michael Huttner, Executive Director of ProgressNowAction, the state's largest online progressive advocacy organization.  "We call on Schaffer to immediately pull his ad and stop misleading the public over his lack of knowledge of Colorado."

Schaffer's new ad shows the image of Denali at the same time that he claims it's Pike's Peak and that our state needs some "Colorado common sense."

While Schaffer claims Colorado is his life, the truth is that Schaffer is from Ohio, where he graduated in from the University of Dayton in 1984 and worked as partisan political operative in Ohio until 1985.

"To Schaffer, who came here from  Ohio, all mountains probably look the same, but Coloradans with common sense know better," added Huttner.

In Schaffer's new ad launched today in the Western Slope and Southern Colorado can be viewed at www.ColoradoPols.com.

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Bob Schaffer's First Campaign Ad | 85 comments
Colorado common sense?!?
What a hoot!



"It is hard enough to remember my opinions, without also remembering my reasons for them!" - Nietzsche  

There's Bob and his wife...
parasailing on the Colorado River!

"But when I see a 9-11 victim family on television, or whatever, I'm just like, 'Oh, shut up!' I'm so sick of them because they're always complaining."  Glenn Beck  
[ Parent ]
Or the Platte
Yeah, that's right, the South Platte.  
[ Parent ]
LOL!
Thanks for making my day.
[ Parent ]
not bad, but much shorter on substance than Udall's
Did you notice it never mentioned
1. he's a republican
2. he was in the house
3. or any policy.

Man they are going all out to make him look like a moderate.

well produced though.

[ Parent ]
Well produced?
It looks like he's walking through a video game.  

"Suddenly, it may be cool to be American again" - William J. Kole
[ Parent ]
no substance is more like it
Dick Wad. really thinks that the Silent Bob routine is going to win the election?  I have always heard that this guy is a brilliant political operative...  Is DW over-rated?

"[McInnis] already appeals to those of us who have half a brain..."  ChenWui
[ Parent ]
"Silent Bob"
He did challenge Udall to seven (!) Lincoln-Douglas style debates over the summer. Where, presumably, he would finally have to speak.
[ Parent ]
A fine distinction
Schaffer touts "The Change We Need," which bears an uncomfortable similarity to the Republican slogan stolen from antidepressant Effexor. Aren't these guys supposed to coordinate their message?

What else can we expect from Schaffer and his antidepressant advertising?

Bob Schaffer: Your Life is Waiting (Paxil)

Bob Schaffer: Depression Hurts (Cymbalta)

Bob Schaffer: No. 1 For Millions of Reasons (Zoloft)


How about a disclosure as well
Side effects may include loss of Americans jobs shipped overseas, sky-rocketing fuel prices while oil companies profit at record rates, cuts to health care programs for kids, and higher insurance rates.  

"Suddenly, it may be cool to be American again" - William J. Kole
[ Parent ]
Or just go with the antidepressant side effects
May cause sleeplessness, thoughts of suicide and lack of sexual function.
[ Parent ]
Lack of sexual function?
Maybe that explains wave of pick ups in men's rooms.
[ Parent ]
Contraindications...
Most anti-depressants are not recommended to people with suicidal tendencies.

Such as: "I think members of Congress ought to be looking at that model [the Marianas] and be considering it as a possible basis for a nationwide program."

[ Parent ]
The Bob Schaffer Game!
Take any image and put it behind him as he nods back at "Pikes Peak."

Take any drug slogan and put it after his name. (Try it with the "Smilin' Bob" of the penis-enlargement ads a while back - that's funny! "Here's Bob..."

[ Parent ]
We need to bring Mt. McKinley to Colorado???
That is hilarious
Wadhams can't remember what state he's in.
[ Parent ]
Schaffer
not only does he support shipping jobs overseas: he think's washing has better mountains than colorado

Next you're going to tell me he's a raiders fan.

[ Parent ]
If that is McKinley
its in CA
[ Parent ]
Except
that Mt. McKinley is in Alaska.  
[ Parent ]
Bad fact-checking transcends all political parties

[ Parent ]
Mt. McKinley
Also known as Denali, located in Alaska.

You're obviously thinking of Mt. Whitney or Mt. Shasta, or maybe Washington's Mt. Rainier. None of which are in Colorado (note to Schaffer ad crew).

[ Parent ]
But .. but ...
they're all so photogenic, as opposed to Colorado's dull, drab mountains.
[ Parent ]
He could have started with the Maroon Bells...
[ Parent ]
if he'd show up at the El Paso GOP dinner early.......
Wadhams could take some pix "Sweatshop" with Pikes Peak in the background
[ Parent ]
He proposed to his wife
on the top of Pike's Peak. You'd think he might have had some photos to commemorate the occasion.
[ Parent ]
He actually proposed on top of Denali
He just mis-remembered.

But one thing's for sure: he observed no forced abortions while he was there!

[ Parent ]
Though you do bring up a great point
That's another reason for Schaffer to avoid the El Paso County Lincoln Day dinner this Sunday. Think the locals will give him shit over mistaking Denali for Pike's Peak?

(The ad does run a picture of the Pikes Peak under his proposal narration.)

"Bob Schaffer, a new direction for Colorado ..."

Yeah -- North -- WAY North.

[ Parent ]
Actually,
Schaffer might have a better chance winning the senate seat in Alaska...their Senator Ted Stevens (R--of course) has his own ethics issues this year....

"But when I see a 9-11 victim family on television, or whatever, I'm just like, 'Oh, shut up!' I'm so sick of them because they're always complaining."  Glenn Beck  
[ Parent ]
ty
have the baby today . having a 2yr old crawling over you shrinks your brain.

thinking ranier

[ Parent ]
It's a decent commercial
It does pretty well introducing Schaffer to the general population. Everyone here will beat him up on the details but I think this will play nicely next to Udall's first crack...
I agree, but...
I stand by my initial reaction - short on substance compared to Udall's, and Danny's critique is spot on too.

What are you talking about?...I don't get it." - bjwilson83
[ Parent ]
It plays well
after the "Thanks Bob" and "There's Something About Bob" ads. Not coordinated, mind you. But dovetails nicely on those.
[ Parent ]
Pablum n/t


"[McInnis] already appeals to those of us who have half a brain..."  ChenWui
[ Parent ]
This ad is all about introducing Shaffer with a completely new image
Schaffer, Wadhams and Schaffer's other consultants know that the old right wing fanatic image he fostered as the congressman from the 4th CD doesn't have a prayer of winning this November.  They also know that Schaffer has not run in a high profile race since the last time he ran for Congress in 2000.  In the intervening years, the population of Colorado has grown and, to a degree, turned over which means there are many Colorado voters who have never heard of Schaffer and don't have an opinion about him.  Those voters are wide open for the new image he will attempt to foist upon them.

It may be time for a good attack add that lays out in bullet point form the positions Schaffer has taken in the past.  No need to allow him to redefine himself.  He needs to be held accountable for the positions he has taken in the past.  If the public is made aware of his actual positions, he doesn't have a chance this Fall.  

He ran a fairly high profile race in 2004
running to the right of Pete Coors. Democratic-leaning 527s can just run his ads from that primary and help reintroduce him to voters.
[ Parent ]
Your right, I forgot about 2004

[ Parent ]
Change?
Is it just me, or is it a bit disingenuous for B.O. Bob to be running on a "The Change We Need" message when he is running to replace a fellow Republican in the Senate for Colorado?  Shouldn't it be "Senator Allard's done well, I'll keep the train rolling?"  Oh, wait, I forgot, Sen. Allard voted with all the other Republicans to unbalance the budget earlier in the decade, and cause the spending train wreck we're in now.  Silly me.
Change
Bob Schaffer: "I came after Wayne Allard in 4th District, just as he came after Hank Brown. Won't you allow me to come after Allard, who came after Brown, in the Senate too."
[ Parent ]
Sen. Allard alone
Voted against diverting fuel from stockpilking in the strategic reserve, it passed 97:1. This may be the first time he has distinguished himself.  

"[McInnis] already appeals to those of us who have half a brain..."  ChenWui
[ Parent ]
Can we declare a moratorium...
on politicians -- Republicans or Democrats -- talking about their families in ads? That is, unless the politicians want to explain how their families effect peoples' pocketbooks or their ability to do their job effectively in Washington. Thank you.
It's a subtle point he's making
that he's not gay. Dog-whistle politics.

Impressive, though, that he has two kids in ROTC and one at the Air Force Academy. That 100-year war he supports is going to need soldiers.

[ Parent ]
Ex-NJ governor Jim McGreevey has kids...
That's just one example where "gaydar" might have been more effective than a dog-whistle.
[ Parent ]
That's true
and Sen. Larry Craig ran ads featuring his beard and two children, too.
[ Parent ]
???
a subtle point that he's not gay?  or maybe like most intro ads he is telling people a short story of who he is.
[ Parent ]
Unless you are....
Rep. Vito Fossella (R-NY) and have two families....

"But when I see a 9-11 victim family on television, or whatever, I'm just like, 'Oh, shut up!' I'm so sick of them because they're always complaining."  Glenn Beck  
[ Parent ]
he can always rent one of the families out to a GOP House member who is single, or divorced and w/out children

[ Parent ]
He believes so much in family values, he has TWO of 'em!
But what do you expect: he comes from "the state so nice, they named it twice." He figured the same goes for families.
[ Parent ]
so they really got their mountains mixed up?
   This is not a good sign coming so soon after the Marianas Islands screw up, the conflict of interests alegations against him as a SBOE member, and his insistence on taking no positions on public policy issues.
  This has all the trapping of the Beauprez campaign heading for iceberg.
Just wait
Dick Wadhams will spin this back on course. Sure he will.

I say we start referring to the candidate as Ohio Extremist Bob Schaffer. He's earned it.

[ Parent ]
I'm sorry
the Denali/Pike's mix up is too funny.
What do you expect
from a guy from Ohio?

How soon until ProgressNow comes up with a response ad?

[ Parent ]
You can tell
the ProgressNow people were just laughing their asses off when they wrote up their press release.  

"It is hard enough to remember my opinions, without also remembering my reasons for them!" - Nietzsche  
[ Parent ]
Wadhams says they're pulling the ad to fix the mountains
From Mike Riley's blog at Politics West:

A frustrated Dick Wadhams, Schaffer's campaign manager, conceded the mistake and said the ad would be pulled and re-edited with Colorado mountains. Wadhams said that the campaign raised the issue with their media consultant during rough cuts, directing them to make sure the mountain shots were authentic - something that obviously didn't happen. But for an ad meant to underscore Schaffer's strong ties to his home state, it's exactly the kind of screw-up the campaign doesn't want to make.

Damn.
Guess I just lost a client for goodsies.

I knew a stripper named Skyler once.  --TaxCheatGeithner
[ Parent ]
I guess the change we all so desperately need...
NEEDS CHANGING !

" Is there a way to delete your own comments? " bjwilson83
[ Parent ]
Bob Schaffer
He can move mountains.
[ Parent ]
ROFLMAO!

[ Parent ]
Excellent!


"But when I see a 9-11 victim family on television, or whatever, I'm just like, 'Oh, shut up!' I'm so sick of them because they're always complaining."  Glenn Beck  
[ Parent ]
The dog ate my homework,
It was the media consultants fault,

Don't blame me, I'm just the campaign manager and it is always someone elses fault, the buck stops someplace else, don't you know, I am the golden boy, infallable and the next incarnation of Karl Rove.

[ Parent ]
diary ad comments at Daily Kos

http://www.dailykos.com/story/...

High-larious  

From the Begich for Alaska Senate campaign:

"While Alaskans can understand why Bob Schaffer would promote our beautiful mountain, I hope he doesn't expect Alaska to cede North America's highest peak to the State of Colorado."

Matt Browner Hamlin now works for Begich and cross-posted this at SquareState.  

by johne on Wed May 14, 2008 at 04:09:25 PM PDT



"[McInnis] already appeals to those of us who have half a brain..."  ChenWui
I'm kinda related to Mark Begich (in a country sorta way)
I think he's my uncle's (by marriage)cousin.

The name Begich is not only an political name in Alaska it used to be a political family in northern minnesota where Nick (Mark's Dad) and I were born.  Folks on the Iron rage are just a little crazy.

Don't know anything about Mark's politics (other than he's a D), but it be nice if he could unseat one of the most corrupt politicians in national politcs, ted stevens.  

He's polling well and if you'd really like to stick it to the GOP, let's win that race.  Send him a little money.

http://www.begich.com/

[ Parent ]
I support that campaign...
Just because Matt Hamlin is working on it. He was my counterpart on the Dodd squad, and really did some great things.

I knew a stripper named Skyler once.  --TaxCheatGeithner
[ Parent ]
The ROCKY MOUNTAIN News . . .
I wonder: Where's the media consultant for Schaffer from?
"What is frustrating about it is that when we saw the rough cut of the ad we asked the media consultant to check that," Wadhams added. But after being reassured that the mountain was a "stock photo" image from Colorado, the ad ran.

[ Parent ]
Not the best posture
on the day you release your campaign's first ad:

Wadhams, however, defended the accuracy of the rest of the ad, which highlights Schaffer's having proposed to his wife atop Pike's Peak and the fact that his daughter attends the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.


[ Parent ]
Great record Bob
Why is Bob sheilding himself with kids? This is the third ad airing for Sweatshop starring kids without any real substance.  

"Suddenly, it may be cool to be American again" - William J. Kole
[ Parent ]
Well...
Just to be fair, he didn't air the other two. They were aired for him by a group he no longer supports.

I knew a stripper named Skyler once.  --TaxCheatGeithner
[ Parent ]
Ok
Why are Bob's handlers, and 527 campaigns from out of state. shielding him with kids?

"Suddenly, it may be cool to be American again" - William J. Kole
[ Parent ]
Because He's Bob Schaffer.
There's no real substance there. Kids sell. They also don't do damage unless they're dead or underage and caught in your bedroom.

I knew a stripper named Skyler once.  --TaxCheatGeithner
[ Parent ]
"Wadhams, however, defended the accuracy of the rest of the ad"
Those are DEFINITELY his kids, gosh darnit!  Yes, that's his wife. Yes, we stole our slogans from the Democrats....

"It is hard enough to remember my opinions, without also remembering my reasons for them!" - Nietzsche  
[ Parent ]
He actually proposed on top of Denali
And his daughter attends Fairbanks Community College.
[ Parent ]
Or, as Bob Schaffer refers to that newspaper, "The Alaska Gazette"

[ Parent ]
Old ads
I'd like to compare this ad for "change" with what Bob has said in the past running for office as the conservative who's more extreme than Dick Cheney. Anyone have any vintage tapes they'd like to put up?

"Suddenly, it may be cool to be American again" - William J. Kole
This aint the first time Wadhams has plagerized a campaign slogan from a Dem
   Dicky doesn't have that much originality in him.  
  Whether it's borrowing the "Change" theme from Barack Obama without attribution, or appropriating "Millionaire Lawyer Lobbyist" from Gene Nichols, Wadhams has never been shy about using Democratic campaign slogans.
[ Parent ]
It's not Denali or Mt McKinley.....
It's actually Mt. Maccaca!!!  Which is somewhere in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.

That's why DickWad thought it was familiar.

elementary school students
Diligent fact-checkers have found that the mountain featured in this ad, the theme of which is "Colorado is My Life," is in fact Alaska's world-famous Denali, otherwise known as Mt. McKinley. Which isn't in Colorado, as most elementary school students know. Oops!

Maybe Denali Bob should do a guest appearance on "Are you smarter than a 5th grader?"

Here's the "corrected" ad


"Needs some Colorado Common Sense"
Like recognizing the mountain you proposed to your wife on???

My recommendations in the 2010 primary?
[ Parent ]
You talented Libs
Must know how to type with your tongues. The Posts keep coming and I know you must have broken both your arms patting yourselves on the back by now after catching this.
No
we use voice-recognition software. You conservatives still use keyboards?
[ Parent ]
Oh c'mon - this transcends political affiliation
You're saying you wouldn't be cackling insanely if Ritter had made the same mistake?

It's just so incredibly amateurish: you make a mountain the visual AND verbal centerpiece of the ad, and then you pick the WRONG MOUNTAIN and one that's not even IN Colorado?

I mean geez Louise, how could anyone NOT have a field day with that?

Just grin n' bear it!

[ Parent ]
The campaign "raised the issue" before the ad went out?
Wadhams said that the campaign raised the issue with their media consultant during rough cuts, directing them to make sure the mountain shots were authentic - something that obviously didn't happen.

Um, did Smilin' Bob even LOOK at the ad when it was done, before it went out? "Hey, that's not the mountain I proposed to my wife on!" "Hey, there's not a gigantic lake in front of Pikes Peak!" Geez Louise, what a joke.

I know Dick Wadhams is a carpetbagger and shouldn't be expected to know any Colorado landmarks, but what about the freakin' candidate himself?

Bob's a carpetbagger
He came from Ohio and was almost instantaneously in the state Senate.

He's been a politician since he was 25 years old.

He's been so fascinated with being a frothy-mouthed ideologue that he hasn't had time to actually learn about Colorado's geography. Obviously he couldn't even bring himself to go outdoors for a photo shoot in front of a Colorado mountain. If he had, he wouldn't be having this trouble.

Non impediti ratione cogitationis.

"Some of the people that wanted to engage me in conversation appeared to have been the losers in the 'Are you smarter than Michele Bachmann contest?'." --Rep. Barney Frank

[ Parent ]
Remind me again - why is Wadhams considered good?
[ Parent ]
Bob Schaffer's First Campaign Ad | 85 comments
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