Libby's Environment

Libby Mitchell's new ad is ineffective for three reasons, and I won't even mention the red sweater.

1. It's amateur. I haven't seen a green screen that green since Return of the Jedi. Couldn't she just film a natural backdrop au-dehors? It looks like she was cut and pasted onto the TV.

2. Mainers don't want to hear about the environment this election cycle, at least not the Mainers that are on the fence and could still swing either way. I can understand the logic behind the ad: motivate the base while mentioning jobs. LePage wants to stifle environmental protection. The problem is that she portrays "Maine" as the quintessential "environment" and what her progressive base wants more of is the windmills at the end of the video. The two are not convincingly equated for either voter.

3. Which calls attention to the most glaring deficiency of the ad: it tries to accomplish too much and so accomplishes very little. The voters Libby needs to target want to know how jobs will be created. Why not focus on a progressive industry (tidal, wind, etc.) and spell it out? Environmental protection does not a job creator make. Smart energy policy making does. All while appealing to your base.