Get Ready for it...

You're gonna hear the word "Medicare" a lot in 2012. That's my prediction, and I'm sticking to it.  Here are two ads previewing that fight. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5z7FiBsR8OQ&feature=player_embedded]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbvfGlI_xLg&feature=player_embedded]

I think the DCCC ad is pretty funny, and doesn't push the message too hard that it loses it's appeal. I talk often about trusting your concept, and this ad does to it's benefit. It's created some controversy around itself. First papers saying the DCCC was running the ad on TV, which it was only nominally -- meaning they had bought enough airtime so the ad was on tv, but it wasn't really intended to be anything except a way to get news attention.  Secondly, Politifact dinged the ad saying that Republican's didn't really intend to "end" medicare, that they only intended to end medicare "as we know it." I have  a lot of respect for Politifact, but that seems like a distinction without a difference to me, and a tad nit-picky. It's a good fight for the DCCC to get attention with too, because the more folks talk about what the vote means, the worse it sounds for Republicans (if victory is only ending medicare "as we know it" it's pyrrhic  at best).

The second ad is the kind that annoys me. While the first ad has a concept and goes with it, this ad never really goes with it.  From the record scratch on "Really" to the fake (maybe it's real but it sounds fake) old lady's voice saying he's a "Nice Young Man..." then spouting the type of political wonkness that real people would never speak. The ad uses the gimmick, but the gimmick isn't an organic concept. Instead, it's something that's supposed to be interesting to cover the fact that we're listening to wonk talk for thirty seconds.

The real question is what other concepts will we see in the next 18 months?  And what will Republicans respond with because they know the attack is coming now, we've shown our cards, was it worth it?