Tom Corbett will debut his first television ad tomorrow.
Two sources with knowledge of the buy said the Governor’s campaign will air on cable in the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh regions.
The ad will run on statewide cable in the next week.
Cable ads cost a fraction of their broadcast counterparts. It’s not clear whether the Governor intends to be on the air through the general election or, more likely, it could be an effort to prevent the active Democratic primary from hogging public attention.
A source told PoliticsPA that the buy was only $109,000 for one week, which is a light buy and in Altoona and Scranton, he’s only buying FoxNews
“Most of Corbett’s cable TV buy is on FoxNews, which is an implicit acknowledgement that he has trouble in his conservative base,” a Democratic media consultant told PoliticsPA. “That’s been clear from several public polls, but now it’s confirmed by Corbett’s own ad-buying strategy.”
Only one Democrat, businessman Tom Wolf, has launched a significant ad buy thus far. But several others are expected to be on the air in the next few weeks.
The ads could also be an effort to lock down Republican support. Compared to the contentious race for the Democratic nomination, the GOP primary for Governor has been a relatively quiet winter.
Corbett has just one opponent: conservative activist Bob Guzzardi. Guzzardi is not a statewide figure and has said publicly that he does not intend to put significant resources into his protest candidacy.
A January poll from Franklin and Marshall showed that only 23% of Pennsylvania registered voters think that Governor Tom Corbett has performed well enough to deserve a second term.
Corbett performs slightly better amongst registered Republicans: 38% think he is doing an “excellent” or “good job.” A mere 10% of Democrats think that he deserves reelection, compared to 42% of Republicans who want to give him a second term.
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5 Responses
I wish I knew who the lying sack of crap woman is saying that horse hockey. She needs a swift kick in the but. I dislike her already, by November I’ll want to rip her a new one.
No the people of Pennsylvania did not send you to Harrisburg One-Term Tom. The gas drilling companies bought you the office of governor to do their bidding.
This is a reason why someone thinks he should be Governor?
This sounds like a job application for an accountant or actuary, not a political leader. Where are the values, the passion.
If Tom Corbett were a good campaigner, he might be able to dig himself out of this electoral hole. But he’s not.
The governor and his latest posse think we are all stupid and have no long-term memory. Corbett’s radio spot – out front of a possible primary challenge – says he never broke the promise not to raise INCOME taxes. The actual promise was not to raise ANY taxes, and/or fees. Then he signed the transportation bill, which he lamely fobbed off as a “user” fee, which is the second largest tax hike on the middle class in history.
No argument that we need the roads fixed. But the Mr. Corbett could have pushed for a severance tax on natural gas, like every other gas-producing state. Various estimates place that @ $750 million/year.
Mr. Corbett also lays bold claim to PA’s improving unemployment picture. Fact is, unemployment has dropped at the same rate nationwide, regardless of local partisan fiscal policy. And a significant portion of PA’s improvement is because over 14,000 Pennsylvanians dropped out of the labor force.
And then there are the schools that Mr. Corbett let strangle and die when the federal stimulus funds ended. School districts from Philly to Pittsburgh had to raise mils to compensate for lost revenues. So that is more tax hikes.
The only faction to whom the governor has kept any promises is the natural gas industry, and other big business. Letting a seal lick his face at the Pittsburgh Zoo will not make people forget that.
Bon Temps Roullez: Acting Governor Brabender!!! Ignore Bob Guzzardi at your own peril, friends. http://youtu.be/DYB5vLzEHvI