Finally, we have managed to feature a state other than Iowa in this week’s Weirdest Political Ads Friday. This video, called “Really?” is approved and paid for by the former Michigan Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land, Republican candidate for the 2014 US Senate Elections in Michigan. Before talking about Land and the elections, let’s see what is going on in the video.
The video, which was posted on Land’s official YouTube channel, runs for only 30 seconds. It shows Terri Lynn Land sitting in her house and telling the audience exactly the following:
“I’m Terri Lynn Land. Congressman Gary Peters and his buddies want you to believe that I’m waging war on women. Really? Think about that for a moment,”
Usually, when someone tells you to think about something for a moment, they do so rhetorically. That is not how Land understood the meaning of the phrase. In the ad, a childish song comes on, Land stops talking, takes a sip from her coffee, and waits for more than 10 seconds. Taking into account that the whole video is only half a minute, close to half of the video does not include any speech or action.
When you know your ad is not more than a minute, campaigns usually make sure you to pack as much messaging as possible. But Land went in another direction.
Land failed to get the seat in the Senate, and her loss was a big shock as she had a strong fundraising run in the second half of 2013. She raised $5.2 million, surpassing her main opponent Gary Peters, who had raised $4.82 million, which might explain her willingness to gamble with her ads.
Peters, a Democrat, received 1,704,936 votes, making up the 54.6% of the final tally. On the other hand, Land received a total of 1,290,199 votes, making up the 41.3%. Libertarian Party’s Jim Fulner, Green Party’s Richard Matkin, and US Taxpayers Party’s Chris Wahmhoff received a combined number of 126,563 votes, making up only 2.2% of the total votes.
During the campaign, Terri Lynn Land was endorsed by respected names such as Rep. Candice Miller and former Rep. Pete Hoekstra. Land was known as a strong conservative, having many ideas against the Obama administration.
Even though there is no concrete reasoning for Land’s unsuccessful campaign, some media sources have stated that various missteps and failed public appearances had caused her to lose many of her votes. Starting from September 2013, Peters managed to get positive results over Land in unofficial polls.
Perhaps a more conventional approach on her ads would have landed (no punded intended) her the Senate seat.
