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Sarah Palin's PAC released a video of her talking about a "mom awakening" in the past year and half; how Washington better watch out for all of the "mama grizzlies"; and trying to rally the troops for the 2010 elections. It is very Palin-esqe, in that it is not fancy and very down-to-earth. She is clearly trying to appeal to Joe-Mom.
I think this is an interesting approach for Palin. I wonder why she has decided to make this type of ad. Why is she reaching out to mothers specifically, as opposed to women in general? On FoxNews today, I saw a statistic that mothers make up approximately 20% of the voters in this country. Pretty sizable, indeed. But I don't think that tells the whole story.
Another issue: Is this the first time that a political ad has been so focused on mothers? None come to my mind. For example, the Willie Horton ad was directed more scaring the heck out of parents generally, as opposed to mothers specifically. Can you all think of any examples that I am missing?
2 comments:
Ilana, good catch!
A couple of things...
I think that Palin is specifically reaching out to mothers because of age. As we know, voters 35+ are much more likely to vote than younger voters. As for mothers, 20% of the voting population is sizable- but you are right, it must go beyond that. Perhaps one thought is that Palin figures that by reaching out to mothers, you are more likely to get better "bang for your buck". Mothers develop strong friend communities, and often share similar values, political perspectives and voting patterns. While you cannot reach the entire 20% with ads, you can reach a portion of the population,that can then help you reach the rest of the population.
As for additional examples of mother targeted advertising, the only other one I can think of was the Daisy ad. While this was not truly only mother specific, it did truly strike a different cord with parents. In general, i also find that candidate biography ads are often targeted at mothers. (Especially those for female candidates!!!) The candidate in these ads is often dripping with love and affection for her cute children. Isn't this also directly targeting mothers?
VERY interesting!
I think she is reaching out to mothers because she was credited (maybe even at times, discredited) as a mother. Very little attention is usually paid to the children of male candidates - during their campaign trails, if the children are not seen, it is assumed that they are with their mother. The fathers are rarely held accountable for them, in these cases. Yet in Sarah Palin's case, she couldn't "pawn" off her children on their other parent or else she would've been highly criticized - she branded herself as a mother who would maintained that role, whether as a candidate or as the VP. I think she was able to earn a lot of attention from mothers - both Republicans and Democrats - who associated with her struggles of balancing a profession with parenting.
I also believe that this population is usually "left out" when it comes to politics, as it is not a large voting block. Perhaps her decision to "speak to" mothers in this ad will garner their support and make them feel included in the process. I believe it is a good ad for the PAC to use at this point, as they slowly create awareness for Sarah Palin's future political endeavors.
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