Real change. That message will become the central theme for the John McCain-Sarah Palin ticket, as I predicted when the selection was first announced just ten days ago. (Only ten days? Seems like a month, and probably seems like a year to Barack Obama.) In this new spot, a positive, non-comparative television ad, Team McCain underscores the record of accomplishment on reform that this ticket carries:
The original mavericks. He fights pork barrel spending. She stopped the Bridge to Nowhere.
He took on the drug industry. She took on big oil.
He battled Republicans and reformed Washington. She battled Republicans and reformed Alaska.
They’ll make history. They’ll change Washington.
McCain. Palin. Real change.
Subtext? Accept no substitutes.
As branding, this carries power and strikes at the heart of the Obama conceit. Not only does Obama have absolutely no record of risk-taking on reform, he chose a running mate who practically embodies everything Obama supposedly wants to change in Washington. Obama came out of one of the most corrupt political machines in the nation, and did absolutely nothing while in Illinois to reform it. Meanwhile, both McCain and Palin have battled their own parties to clean up politics.
McCain isn’t stealing Obama’s thunder on change; he’s reclaiming a mantle that Obama attempted to usurp. He needs to remind voters that actions speak louder than pretty words on a fake Greek temple. Accept no substitutes.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member