Focus groups don’t like him: We haven’t seen polling on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s upcoming special election recently but there was a clear sign on Friday that things aren’t going well for Das Guber: The governor’s “Yes on Whatever” campaign pulled all ads out of rotation in which Schwarzenegger appears on camera, replacing them with ads featuring actors playing “ordinary” Californians. (Why these regular – Republican? – Californians come off so snarky is a question for another day.)
The governor’s flying monkeys insist the change has nothing to do with anything:
[Schwarzenegger spokesman Todd] Harris said the campaign was not pulling the ads because of public opinion about Schwarzenegger. Rather, he said, the campaign spent a lot of effort and money on TV ads featuring the governor, “and now we are putting a ton of [ads] behind educating people about the campaign.”
Meanwhile, in reality:
“[Pulling the ads] means their focus groups and polling are telling them that he is not a compelling source on these topics, and that is linked to his popularity ratings,” said Barbara O’Connor, a political communications professor at Cal State Sacramento.
In the poll that really matters – fundraising – the unions and liberal-leaning groups opposing the governor have raised about $90 million, while Schwarzenegger says he has only raised about $40 million.
The cost of holding the election is about $50 million, so whatever happens on Nov. 8, this is an obscene amount of money to be wasted on an election that at its bottom line is totally unnecessary.
