April 19, 2011 11:03 PM UTC

Linkhart: Second Place is Fine By Me

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• by: Colorado Pols

Doug Linkhart, who’s got a lot to gain from Boigon’s exit from the race, sent us his latest TV AD.

This is the first time we’ve seen the ad. In fact, it’s the first ad Linkhart’s run. We haven’t seen it on TV yet, and we’re a bit surprised Linkhart pooled together enough money to run it.

That said, it’s a good ad. Linkhart more than any other candidate can come out on top even if he doesn’t win the Mayor’s office. He’s a very likable guy with low negatives in left-of-center Denver. He’s got very vocal supporters; he may not have many, but those who do support Doug really support Doug. This is the kind of advertisement we expected from the Linkhart campaign all along: it’s not incredibly professionally produced, but Linkhart has been campaigning on the strength of the communities which support him, not his own name. That’s probably hurt him in name ID, but it allows him a unique way to frame his candidacy. This ad is really effective, in part, because Linkhart hasn’t done a great political job in this race thus far. Linkhart knows that he can account for low fundraising numbers by not being a “politician.” Instead, he frames his own candidacy as a progressive voice that brings Denver together. It’s smart.

Doug’s also smart in knowing that his best chance at getting into the Mayor’s office is by campaigning for second place. From an e-mail we received from the Linkhart campaign:

On Sunday, a Denver Post/9 News poll was released putting us in 3rd place.

We just need to move up one spot to secure our position in the runoff.

We’ve said it all along: the race for Denver Mayor is a race between Romer and everyone else. While Boigon’s endorsement of Hancock made things a little tougher for Chris, we can’t imagine a scenario in which he doesn’t make it to the run-off. Linkhart is the only candidate publicly acknowledging that you don’t have to beat Chris now if you can get to him later.

Linkhart probably won’t win the Mayor’s office, but he’s finally showing the kind of savvy that will treat him well in the next couple of weeks. Will he make it to the run-off? Probably not. But unlike Boigon and the other candidates, if Doug loses, he may end up looking good, if not better, than before he ran.