Mom for Governor
Cool Mom , produced
by Murphy, Pintak, Gautier, Hudome Agency Inc. for Whitman for Governor.
Cool
Mom gives
us the softer side of New Jersey Gov. Christie Whitman, drawing viewer
attention away from polls (three in just the last week) that show her in a dead
heat with Democratic challenger Jim McGreevey. Besides giving New Jersey voters
a much-needed break from Whitman's attacks on her opponent and his "high-tax
philosophy," it is also a well-calculated response to McGreevey's
attacks on Whitman as clueless snob and insensitive patrician. Produced by Republican
media adviser Mike Murphy, this spot disdains contentious facts and boring
stats in favor of fuzz. It focuses on Whitman as Mom--a cool one, if her
kids, Taylor and Kate, are to be believed--and in so doing recalls a radio ad
that Whitman used to good effect when trying to revive a sagging campaign in
1993.
That ad had Kate talking of
her mother as a role model. This one has both kids going the same route. Not
only does Mom get the credit for instilling in him basic values--integrity and
responsibility and honesty; the importance of keeping one's promises--but she
also gets extra points for having taught by example. As important, perhaps, is
that she has been a caring, fun companion, the glue that keeps the family
"tight-knit."
The opening frames show the
Whitmans on a lush, picket-fenced green, making no apologies for what is
obviously a life of privilege. A football is tossed--and almost missed--amid
much laughter and camaraderie, reprising what is arguably one of the most
memorable images of modern politics, that of the Kennedys playing touch
football at Hyannisport. No matter that some folks have a bigger lawn, these
images are meant to say: What matters is heart, the desire to do good. The idea
that wealth is venial if pressed into public service is a harder sell for a
Republican than it is for a Democrat (even FDR was lambasted as being a traitor
to his class, remember?). But Whitman's intentions, insists Cool Mom ,
are unimpeachable and always have been, her commitment to her various roles
absolute ("she has that ability to go home and forget about all the political
stuff and be a ... mom").
The testimonials from these
clean-cut, well-adjusted kids (to say nothing of the family resemblance) make a
clear play for the soccer-mom vote--a segment that attack ads have been known
to alienate. That aside, Whitman's opponents have sought, in recent weeks, to
undermine her popularity among female voters by attacking her handling of
sexual-harassment allegations against two Republican officials. Cool Mom
would regain that ground--and wreak its own subtle havoc (McGreevey is going
through a divorce, and his daughter, 4-year-old Morag, lives in Canada with her
mother).
Whitman's allegedly
successful separation of personal from political does not, however, extend to
this ad. Images of the governor at work--signing bills, making speeches--splice
a story that is told by her children. Taylor, speaking to camera, lauds "what
she's done for the state," as a shot of Whitman amid cheering supporters (one
prominently uniformed) reminds voters that it is she who deserves credit for
the decrease in crime. And she has "stuck with what she said she was going to
do" (there's no denying that she cut income taxes--so what if property taxes
then went up?).
The images flow thick:
Whitman, baseball cap and all, mingling easily at what looks like a
transportation event ("what she does, she does to help New Jersey"); Whitman
behind a sign that trumpets her "Work First" program, then a shot of her
hugging a politically correct mix of kids ("she loves this state"). As Kate
points out, the governor "wants to do the best that she can" for her voters.
Cool Mom invites its viewers to look beyond an administration's
shortfalls to the character--or, at least, the intentions--of the woman at its
helm. Less obviously clever than McGreevey's caricature of Whitman, the spot
makes artful use of the personal to validate the political. Whether it can
trump an opponent's attacks and ease an electorate's frustrations remains, of
course, to be seen.
--Robert
Shrum
