Fear and Self Loathing; The Santorum Campaign Spins Out of Control

When all is said and done next week, the much-lauded campaign skills of Rick Santorum and the marketing skills of his personal media maven, John Brabender may have to be seriously rethought, for this has been a campaign that has done little right. In many ways, it resembles the season the Pittsburgh Steelers are having, full of fumbles, missteps, penalties and just flat out bad play. Like the Steelers, and despite a rather large "red zone" in the middle of the Commenwealth, it appears Rick will come up just a little short.

I raised this issue some months ago. At that point I imagined the campaign would muster its forces and start finding a way to dismantle Bob Casey piece by piece. But it just didn't happen. Their TV ads were typically wacky and expansively produced. But voters didn't seem to notice. In fact, it may have been that supposed "creativity" which turned them off. Each ad seemed to raise questions rather than quell them; Was the polka ad shot on green screen? Did Rick bump into that woman? Was the ad with his kids shot at the Penn Hills faux home? Did Rick really agree to have his kids lie for him?

More recently questions arose about the desperate use of terrorists and mushrooms clouds, as well as a "Wrestling" ad in which Rick tried to show his bipartisan, liberal-loving bona fides by talking about his work across-the-aisle with Barbara Boxer and Hillary Clinton. To my ears, that ad was a replay of Santorum's Toomey vs. Spector gaffe, when he turned his back on his religious right-wing base to help keep Arlen in office.

Oh, and there was the negative ad which featured a dead guy. That reminded me a lot of the failed campaign which BrabenderCox cooked up for Mike Fisher, when he ran for Governor. In that campaign, Brabender used a fake Philly cab driver in one ad...and was later hoisted on his own air freshener when Oxman, et al pulled out the real deal and slapped back.

Now, I'll be the first to admit that Rick is no ones idea of the ideal candidate. He's clearly not a pliable pol who you can plop in front of the prompter and say, "Read this!" Rick has attitude and it's unlikely that Brabender could have changed his mind about much. But, with that said, it should be understood how close to guys are; Brabender is the godfather of one of Rick's children...and last year he moved his main office to Leesburg, VA - the same town that Santorum lives in. They are inexorably tied together, and Brabender has no excuse for not understanding the hand he was dealt.

Santorum needed, but did not get, a campaign that was new and fresh. TV commercials that were pointed and smart, not flabby reruns from other campaigns. He needed something new on TV, so that viewers would see him in a new light. He needed a fresh take. He didn't get it. This is why companies often change advertising agencies; after a while, the one you have is just too inbred to give you the kick in the butt you need to succeed.

After next Tuesday, it's likely that both the client and the agency will be looking for work.