Opinion by Hal Brown
This is the anti-Trump Michael Cohen ad just released by American Bridge:
Michael Cohen says all the right things in this ad. He says them sincerely. He calls Trump an outright liar. He expresses alarm in what might be construed as a deadpan lawyerly way.
He notably admits to having been gullible and thus implies that Trump supporters were also gullible. This is perilous territory. You can't admit that you were taken in by a major con because you were gullible without saying that others were also basically rubes. Nobody wants to admit to having been fooled by a conman.
However, it isn’t this that worries me about the ad not being as effective with voters who need to get the message.
It is first half of his final line in the video suggests to me why I have my doubts:
You don’t have to like me, but please listen to me.
The ads by The Lincoln Project, PAC Priorities USA (“Exponential Threat” video below), and others by American Bridge which made the Cohen ad feature Donald Trump and I don’t recall seeing one featuring a former Trump minion as the spokesperson. (I may have missed it.)
Others who worked very closely with Trump have gone public about their reasons why Trump should not be reelected, most notably Omarosa (video interview), and to a lesser extent author of “The Art Of The Deal” Tony Schwartz (video interview), Rex Tillerson, and others like just the other day Miles Taylor who most people never heard of and another generally unknown member of “the deep state” named Elizabeth Neumann (below)
Without a doubt Michael Cohen is the best known Trumper to break with him since Omarosa.
You may have heard of the Q Score or Q Rating. It has nothing to do with QAnon which has popularized the letter Q and appropriated it for their own identity.
“The Q Score (popularly known as Q-Rating) is a measurement of the familiarity and appeal of a brand, celebrity, company or entertainment product used in the United States. The higher the Q Score, the more highly regarded the item or person is, among those who are aware of the subject. Q Scores and other variants are primarily used by the advertising, marketing media, and public relations industries.” Wikipedia
Unfortunately Michael Cohen may score high on credibility but I think he scores low on likability.
TV ads sell a product and in politics the product is often a person. Those using spokespeople are also trying to use their popularity and reputation for honesty, even if it is the rectitude of the character they play. Here’s an example from someone who has no credibility with me because of his rightwing views but still I think this is a highly effective ad for its target audience. According to Wikipedia he didn't support either Trump or Clinton in 2016 so there’s that.
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I wish we had a Tom Selleck type who everyone knew worked very closely with Trump and who would make an ad like this.
Update: Meanwhile, just amusing myself by making and tweeting this.
Please take the poll and especially if you disagree with my premise that it may not be as persuasive as we’d like it to be explain why in the comments.