Econintersect: Incumbent Republican Congresswoman Kristi Noem has 
put together a video summary comparing her experience and credentials to those of her Democratic challenger, Matt Varilek. MSN has posted a brief article expressing the opinion that the ad is “tragically misguided.” MSN points out that the video lists an impressive array of qualifications for Varilek in his education, teaching experience, greenhouse gas work and political experience as a staffer in Washington, DC. The ad also points out two huge corndog parties thrown by Varilek, one in Washington and the other in South Dakota.
The South Dakota GOP has a proud Tweet promoting the video which has the title “Dueling Visions”. It has close to 50,000 views at You Tube. Click below to add to the total at You Tube.
Here is what MSN had to say:
South Dakota is no stranger to quirky campaign ads, but there’s quirky and then there’s tragically misguided. Incumbent Republican Congresswoman Kristi Noem has put together probably the most effective ad ever — for her opponent Matt Varilek. The ad exhaustively illustrates Varilek’s impressive education, travels, teachings, international greenhouse gas work, political experience and his aptitude for throwing the mother of all corn dog parties. Noem’s greatest achievement? Receiving the South Dakota Young Leader Award from the South Dakota Soybean Association. The South Dakota GOP are awfully proud of the video going viral, though they don’t seem to grasp the roughly 10-to-1 dislikes to likes ratio on YouTube.
At the time Econintersect looked at the video, there had been 47,249 views with 167 likes and 1,265 dislikes.
Editorial comment: How does MSN know what resonates with the people in South Dakota? This is a classical “he’s not one of us” ads. The people in South Dakota may be very much against taking action against global warming. They be very much against cap and trade for carbon emmissions. The ad implies a very serious question: How well do all the accomplishments of Matt Varilek relate to what the people of South Dakota want in a congressman or congresswoman? A successful campaign for office at the regional (congressional district) level often does not relate to national or global issues. When a candidate has great credentials on some larger scale they may have little influence on local votes. Matt Varilek may know climate change issues but soybeans and family farming may carry much more weight with South Dakota voters.
And how many of the video ratings have come from South Dakota? No one is tracking that, so the numbers could be entirely irrelevant.
Sources:
- Congresswoman makes most counterintuitive campaign ad ever (MSN, 27 October 2012)
- Dueling Visions (You Tube)
