Santa Barbara Mayor Helene Schneider is out with her first ad of the race for California's open 24th Congressional District, and she earns points for creativity, as you can see below the fold.
Schneider, narrating the spot herself, says "I started my campaign for Congress in the garage, because I believe in going to the people to get things done." In the background, we see several campaign workers at tables, before Schneider jets off in her car, with a table strapped to the roof. She then visits other locations, setting up her office-on-the-go at each stop, saying she "stopped the sale of public parking lots to big corporations" (in front of a parking structure) and fought for safer highways (on the roadside).
Then, in the funniest segment, Schneider's staff literally sets up her table in the ocean, as she recounts how she fought to "restart the desalination plant" and will fight against tax breaks for oil companies cleaning up oil spills—as Schneider and her whole team get clobbered by a wave. We laughed for real at the sight, so we were unsurprised to learn that the spot was created by Mark Putnam, one of our favorite ad-makers and one of the most inventive in the business. While we usually don't think highly of ads that try to cram in too many issues, here Schneider has focused heavily on local topics (rather then just generic liberal messages), and delivered it all in a memorable way.
Schneider’s chief rival is fellow Democrat Salud Carbajal, a Santa Barbara County supervisor, who has led the way in both money and endorsements. A trio of notable Republicans are running, but it’s likely that we’ll see a traditional D-vs.-R matchup general election matchup in this light blue district once we get past June’s top-two primary.