A new ad in Washington state.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aScUZgzFlTI
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I really hope somebody takes the next step. California ditched their legalization drive this year, just 2 days after I donated to their campaigns.
I wish Washington all the best, might even send them a few $ since we fizzled.
Does anyone else find it just a little depressing that 90% of the ad’s likely impact comes not from what is said, but from who is saying it, i.e., a white, conservatively-dressed “soccer mom”-type who “doesn’t like [marijuana] personally”? Just to be clear, I’m not criticizing the ad. I’m criticizing the electorate that made it necessary.
This one is from the “thud!” category:
Res ipsa loquitur
Stories like that will blow the ONDCP propaganda that all users are addicts and need rehab.
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Your theory is built on the basis that prohibitionists are able to apply reason and logic to a subject. Currently the officially approved hysterical rhetoric says that there is a small percentage of potheads who are able to achieve but are exceptions that prove the rule.
Have you forgotten that the motto of the Know Nothing prohibitionist is “never let the facts get in the way of disseminating an effective piece of hysterical rhetoricâ€?
Here is some politically useful data on Marijuana Use by Age from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health:
http://tinyurl.com/8pe8a88
The Washington state ad featuring a woman who appears to be in her thirties falls in a Gen-X age bracket of less likely pro-marijuana supporters.
Targeting the youth vote in order to offset the geriatric vote would be more effective for adding voters in 2012 who favor legalized and regulated marijuana. Ads that appeal to the 18-25 age bracket are needed.
Fear works for the 18-25 group. Ads featuring aspiring and talented college students getting busted for pot, their dogs shot, and having their lives irreparably disrupted might work to get more of them to the polls, sort of like the road-kill approach to driver safety training.
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In 2010 there was a problem with the age restriction in Prop 19. You’re asking 18, 19, and 20 year olds to vote in favor while excluding themselves. Now it’s perfectly reasonable to argue that the youngsters who voted against Prop 19 on that basis are going to be 20, 21, and 22 and that it’s very short sighted thinking on the part of those young voters but I don’t have the impression that college age voters have much of a grasp of the future.
The ad isn’t tailored to the 18-25 age range, I agree. But New Approach has been pretty good about reaching out to campuses and online media.
Colorado’s legalization measure has an ad of a twenty-something writing a note to his parents about the issue. I do think there’s an assumption that those under 25 know why this policy is failed, or at least are critical of it. Those over 30 need convincing, the basis of the I-502 ad.
I don’t know if either will do a better job moving its audience. New Approach campaign director Alison Holcomb is very much the character in the ad, and she’d been leading an ACLU campaign to talk about marijuana laws before this initiative. The language of the ad is almost exactly to tone of that earlier campaign.
I’m glad to see different approaches and tactics by these varying campaigns, it gives us chances to see what works and what doesn’t on the road to reform!
Finally!