The sudden surge of Newt Gingrich in the GOP presidential primary race has given the consistently-in-the-race Mitt Romney his fourth acknowledged key opponent – Gingrich follows Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry and Herman Cain in this role. And the Gingrich surge is leading to a surge in Gingrich negative advertising. But Romney is continuing to put out a positive message simultaneously, using the radio medium.
Romney is unleashing the radio flights in the two key early states of Iowa and New Hampshire. The candidate is hoping to do well in Iowa, and as the former governor of neighboring Massachusetts, he likely not only needs to win New Hampshire, he will need to win it with a comfortable margin over the #2 candidate, which according to the latest polls is indeed Newt Gingrich.
According to the CNN Political Ticker, prominent Republican voices, particularly regional ones, are voicing ads on Romney’s behalf, including pundit Ann Coulter, Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu, and in the Midwest, Sen. John Thune (R-SD).
The adds, 60-seconds long, are free of negativity, with scripts praising Romney rather than taking down any of his opponents. They say he is offering the “boldest GOP agenda since Reagan in 1980.”
RBR-TVBR observation: We are always surprised that radio doesn’t have a more prominent role in the average political campaign. Professional-quality creative can be put together at a moment’s notice, providing the flexibility to react swiftly to the rapid changes typical of political campaigns – and the airtime itself can be precisely targeted and inexpensively acquired. If political media execs haven’t figured it out, then it leaves it to radio sales staffs to teach them and turn them into clients.
