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Rate Tom Cross’ new cable TV ad

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* From a Tom Cross campaign e-mail to supporters…

Beginning this morning, our campaign took to the airwaves to share our goals for the office of Treasurer, which include balancing the budget and cracking down on fraud and corruption, and also highlight the policy differences between myself and the Frerichs/Quinn Agenda.

The ad, titled “Clear Choice”, succinctly asks two key questions of voters: Do you want more spending or a balanced budget? Do you want higher taxes or greater reform?

* Cross is taking the Rauner route of ignoring his GOP primary opposition. The ad doesn’t even mention the possible existence of a Bob Grogan and instead boosts his own campaign (I expect overlays of any newspaper endorsements he receives down the road) and attacks Frerichs. Rate it…

* This is a cable buy, so I checked in with Comcast…

$37,860 on the Chicago Interconnect
3/5 - 3/9/14 FXNC only all dayparts

$41,640 on the Chicago Interconnect
3/11 - 3/17/14 FXNC only all dayparts

He also heavied up his FXNC only presence in key Comcast zones having a higher GOP voter audience: $19,960 spread across five Comcast zones: Oakbrook, St.Charles/ Wheaton, Orland Park, Mt. Prospect, Frankfort 3/4 - 3/17/14 FXNC only all dayparts

All Fox News, all the time. If you wanna reach hardcore GOP primary voters, that’s the most reliable way to do it. And attacking Democrats doesn’t hurt at all on that channel.

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Mar 4, 14 @ 10:21 am

Comments

It seems like Cross is playing it much smarter than most clueless GOP candidates. This is really his first contested campaign. He rode Denny Hastert’s (his former wrestling coach) coattails for his legislative wins.

Maybe Rauner is making the GOP smarter by his participation.

GOP campaign strategy has been horrendous since George Ryan. Could it be that they’re actually learning about smart campaigning?

Comment by Arizona Bob Tuesday, Mar 4, 14 @ 10:27 am
Simple, clean. I give it a B/B+. Not flashy, but delivers the message cleanly.

Comment by Powell Tuesday, Mar 4, 14 @ 10:30 am
While it seems like a nice ad with appeal to GOP voters, I do wonder what anything in the ad has to do with the office he’s running for.

Still, I give it a solid B. Nothing special, but at least it serves a reminder that he’s in the race.

Comment by Smoggie Tuesday, Mar 4, 14 @ 10:31 am
A- Simple, to the point, smart, and visually appealing.

I think that Bob Grogan is jumping up and down somewhere flailing his arms wildly and demanding respect.

Comment by Trader Vic Tuesday, Mar 4, 14 @ 10:42 am
“A-”? Yikes…

Simple, plain, bland, connects Frerichs to Quinn, and if it get rotation, it does the job with GOP name ID.

“A-”? Nope…

“B”, but nothing worthy of an “A”

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Mar 4, 14 @ 10:45 am
B- to B.

Comment by Just Observing Tuesday, Mar 4, 14 @ 10:52 am
Sorry but with resources so scarce, why is he running this in a primary that he is overwhelmingly favored to win? With Rauner it’s smart because he’s doing it broadly and has plenty of resources. Cross doesn’t have that luxury.

Comment by Chicago Cynic Tuesday, Mar 4, 14 @ 10:57 am
Surprised Billboards did not wrap himself in some of the wing nuts who have backed him …WhackyJack Roeser et al. No one watching FOX believes PQ is really Governor and why waste time on the tall guy from ChamBana?
Try to get a refund Billboards….pronto

Comment by circularfiringsquad Tuesday, Mar 4, 14 @ 11:02 am
Shameful ad for someone who was ineffective for years and is part of the problem.

Comment by Snopes Tuesday, Mar 4, 14 @ 11:04 am
I know that the meme out there is that only the GOP watches Fox, but the ratings clearly show that Fox is also the number one new source for Democrats as well. It is such a huge rating success that it can no longer be dismissed as an aberration attractive only to a crowd with only one point of view.

Comment by VanillaMan Tuesday, Mar 4, 14 @ 11:07 am
It is a good ad, but anyone who know what Mr. Cross’ job has been over the years must wonder what Mr. Cross has been doing during all those years.

Tom Cross has been in a leadership role for a long time - why will it take him being elected to the Treasurer’s office for him to finally do what he could have been doing?

I find this ad’s reasoning behind his candidacy for this particular statewide office rather odd.

I wouldn’t waste a dollar attacking the others on the GOP primary ballot either. No one outside of political geekdom has heard of his opponents.

Comment by VanillaMan Tuesday, Mar 4, 14 @ 11:13 am
Vanilla,
That may be true, but Democrats watch it only to feel superior. They watch it to laugh at the other side. So no, I don’t think FoxNews is an effective way to reach Democratic leaning voters.

Comment by Smoggie Tuesday, Mar 4, 14 @ 11:14 am
No one watching FOX believes PQ is really Governor

Once again, dead wrong. Repeated polling clearly has shown that Fox news viewers score much higher on political questions than viewers of any other news channels.

It is time to update your drivel.

And only Fox news viewers and GOP haters would know who the hell Jack Roeser is anymore.

Its 2014 - time to throw away that old Rolodex of yours and update your arguments by a couple of decades, right?

Comment by VanillaMan Tuesday, Mar 4, 14 @ 11:18 am
- Smoggie -…

“Smug”gy?

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Mar 4, 14 @ 11:21 am
Sorry, but it is way past time to stop labeling Fox as some kind of Pravda for folks you have no respect for.

Fact is, a viewer is a viewer regardless of purpose of viewing. You want to reach viewers interested in the news - advertise on Fox.

That superior drivel is way past its freshness date.

Deal with it. Then make it work for your side.

Comment by VanillaMan Tuesday, Mar 4, 14 @ 11:21 am
I am glad to see Tom Cross stepping up to take on the challenge to provide the bold leadership this state so desperately needs and has been missing over the past 5 years….say what?….he what?…never mind.

Comment by zatoichi Tuesday, Mar 4, 14 @ 11:31 am
–I know that the meme out there is that only the GOP watches Fox, but the ratings clearly show that Fox is also the number one new source for Democrats as well.–

That’s absurd. No basis in fact or relationship to reality.

The fact is, relatively few people watch the cable yakkers, whether it’s Fox, CNN or MSNBC. The network nightly news still draw exponentially more viewers.

The cable yakkers are the province of chronically outraged, self-pitying victims well past retirement age.

http://nymag.com/news/frank-rich/fox-news-2014-2/

Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Mar 4, 14 @ 11:31 am
Nice ad, but the Treasurer has specific job duties with very little or no power to “balance the budget and crack down on fraud”.

Making these promises he knows he can’t keep is an act of a dishonest politician.

Making these promises thinking he can keep them is delusional.

I have had enough with dishonest, delusional politicians.

The ad: Grade B-

The candidate: Grade F

Comment by DuPage Tuesday, Mar 4, 14 @ 11:32 am
“Fact is, a viewer is a viewer regardless of purpose of viewing. You want to reach viewers interested in the news - advertise on Fox.”

That really depends on the product being advertised. If people turn in to Hannity to laugh at the freak show, do you really think they are going to have a high opinion of those candidates advertising? Or are they going to view them as simply more freaks?

Oswego, you may think that attitude is smug, but that’s reality.

Comment by Smoggie Tuesday, Mar 4, 14 @ 11:39 am
I give it a B+, it’s never a bad thing to connect a candidate to a Governor who has the lowest approval ratings in the country. And these numbers are probably lower now with all the ads Rauner has been running.

Curious to see how Frerichs will respond with this attack

Comment by Almost the Weekend Tuesday, Mar 4, 14 @ 11:42 am
===If people turn in to Hannity to laugh at the freak show, do you really think they are going to have a high opinion of those candidates advertising? Or are they going to view them as simply more freaks?===

When you read the “New Yorker” …

Yeah, you are more “Smug”gy than - Smoggie -.

Wasting your time to mock one side of the political spectrum while feeling quite elite that your superior thoughts give you license…yeah, that is embarrassingly Smug… - Smoggie -

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Mar 4, 14 @ 11:43 am
–I know that the meme out there is that only the GOP watches Fox, but the ratings clearly show that Fox is also the number one new source for Democrats as well.–

That should have been cable new source - then it is right.

Mainstream media is still watched over cable.

And Fox news is the number one cable news source for Democrats. Period. Look it up.

Comment by VanillaMan Tuesday, Mar 4, 14 @ 11:44 am
“…the Rauner route of ignoring his GOP primary opposition…”

HA! That’s pretty funny. If he’s ignoring the opposition (see negative ads against Dillard, Brady and Rutherford), then I’m leading him in the polls for Gov.

Comment by Amuzing Myself Tuesday, Mar 4, 14 @ 11:47 am
Wow Smuggy - you really believe that all those Democrats are watching Fox because they want a laugh?

Geez, that’s completely ridiculous. Does being a Democrat mean you are not aware of the other 800 channels?

Gosh - that claim of yours is pretty stupid.

Comment by VanillaMan Tuesday, Mar 4, 14 @ 11:49 am
Oswego, well I guess you won’t be dating those people.

Are you an owner of FoxNews? If not, why do you care if/why people watch it? You seem really offended that people would watch it to laugh at it.

I never watch cable news other than on election night. So you calling me “smug” for pointing out what I know others do is just shooting the messenger.

Comment by Smoggie Tuesday, Mar 4, 14 @ 11:49 am
Hey Smuggie, do you also walk into a Wal-Mart to laugh at the shoppers? Hey - I bet you laugh a lot, that is, when you are not looking down your nose at everyone.

You sound like a really fun guy.

Comment by VanillaMan Tuesday, Mar 4, 14 @ 11:54 am
Oh no.

Vanilla Man just called me stupid.
Whatever will I do?

In any case Vanilla, note that I never insulted you. I never made it personal. So thanks for taking this discussion to a new level.

Let me guess Vanilla — you are a regular Fox viewer?

In any case, this has taken us way off topic. Vanilla Man thinks FoxNews is a good investment to reach Dems. I disagree. I don’t see this discussion moving forward on that point, so I’ve got better stuff to do so I’ve got nothing further to say on this point.

Comment by Smoggie Tuesday, Mar 4, 14 @ 11:54 am
Tom Corss’s old leadership is exactly what the state doesn’t need. As the Leader of the Illinois House Republicans, Tom Cross didn’t stand up for taxpayers or balanced budgets. At leat Mike Frerichs is tall enough to see the real problems that face Illinois!

Comment by RhondaTater Tuesday, Mar 4, 14 @ 11:56 am
Finally, don’t change your name Smuggie - it fits you better than you realize.

You are just spelling it wrong.

Comment by VanillaMan Tuesday, Mar 4, 14 @ 11:57 am
===FoxNews is a good investment to reach Dems===

If it was, we’d see a lot more Dem candidates doing it. Instead, Rauner, several GOP legislative candidates and now Cross are spending big bucks on FNC.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Mar 4, 14 @ 12:00 pm
You go Vanilla Man!! Woot woot!

Comment by the unknown poster Tuesday, Mar 4, 14 @ 12:03 pm
VMan, you’re missing a very simple point.

The fact is, very few people watch the cable yakkers.

Fox maxes out at about 2 million viewers in prime time, nationally. You like to talk about the elderly; more than half of them are over 68.

On the other hand, the network nightly news broadcasts still draw more than 22 million viewers at 5:30.

Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Mar 4, 14 @ 12:03 pm
I rated it B-. Bob Grogan seems to be more qualified for Treasurer than Cross. Still not sure why Cross is running for Treasurer. All the Treasure does is contract with a bunch of banks and give back unclaimed property. Lots of time left for golf-I answered my own question.

Comment by Soccertease Tuesday, Mar 4, 14 @ 12:05 pm
Ad’s a B. Candidate’s an F.

Comment by A guy... Tuesday, Mar 4, 14 @ 12:10 pm
=== I never watch cable news other than on election night. So you calling me “smug” for pointing out what I know others do is just shooting the messenger===

How about you let them speak for themselves? At least you are not say “every Democrat I talk to…”

I have no interest in any cable network, but your smugness is quite apparent to those who do or don’t watch cable news.

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Mar 4, 14 @ 12:25 pm
Did nothing in the past, will do nothing in the future!

Comment by Union Man Tuesday, Mar 4, 14 @ 12:31 pm
Re: Why would he burn money now when he is so far ahead in the primary?

Maybe he has internal polls that say he is not that far ahead.

Comment by jake Tuesday, Mar 4, 14 @ 12:43 pm
Urr..I watch Fox for a couple reasons, business news, sports news, but not sure how much is cable Fox and how much is network Fox.

I am already sick of TV ads. Have been since JBT ran for Governor and had to put up with all the “What is she thinking?” ads. Better to go vote early and skip the rest.

Comment by Toure's Latte Tuesday, Mar 4, 14 @ 1:01 pm
Speaking of polls - I am very surprised Tom hasn’t released a poll showing him blowing his so called non-existent primary opponent.

Comment by funny boy Tuesday, Mar 4, 14 @ 1:16 pm
If it was, we’d see a lot more Dem candidates doing it.

Watch. It will happen when the Democrats realize that is where the converts are. It is just like legalized gambling - I mean gaming - everyone was against it until they saw what they could be getting.

What the Democrats have to do is stop the bashing and start the buying and the charming. There is voter gold in those audiences!

Comment by VanillaMan Tuesday, Mar 4, 14 @ 1:40 pm
—Repeated polling clearly has shown that Fox news viewers score much higher on political questions than viewers of any other news channels.—

Is that in a survey of Fox News viewers? Because an actual survey showed largely the opposite, that FNC viewers were, in fact, the least informed.

I suspect it’s not because they’re stupid so much as Fox provides the confirmation bias they’re looking for (viewers of no news at all were more informed than Fox viewers, but the next least informed group were MSNBC viewers, which lends credence to the confirmation bias theory).

On the merits of the ad…meh.

Comment by Bill F. Tuesday, Mar 4, 14 @ 1:52 pm
I’d encourage everyone to turn off cable yakkers and visit their local library.

You want learn anything watching cable TV. They just feed your resentments.

Lot of good, challenging stuff in those libraries.

Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Mar 4, 14 @ 2:56 pm
ANYONE but Tom Cross. Cross has been at the heart of Illinois woes for a loooonnng time. No thanks on what Tom Cross is selling, Ill pass.

Comment by Slapshot Tuesday, Mar 4, 14 @ 5:30 pm
Cross is definitely the most shameless of all of the politicians on the ballot in this cycle. It’s too bad that Grogan doesn’t have the cash to run an ad with a clip from the Tribune endorsement session, where they asked Cross to name 3 accomplishments from his 20 years in the house…and he couldn’t name one…let alone 3. He even said something like, “I’m drawing a blank, maybe ask Bob a question and then come back to me.” When they came back to him, he still couldn’t name anything.

Comment by Frustrated Voter Tuesday, Mar 4, 14 @ 5:56 pm