
Iowans won’t be seeing too many TV ads for Novembers’s municipal races, most of which are relatively low-profile affairs where not a whole lot of money spent. But one of the few they will watch is really quite good and a “refreshing” change of pace from the typical campaign ads we’ve come to expect.
Josh Mandelbaum is up on television in the Des Moines media market with a 30-second ad entitled “Refreshing” two and a half weeks out from the city council election. It highlights his work as an environmental attorney on the issue of clean drinking water in a clever way. Mandelbaum sits at a kitchen table with two pitchers of water, one with clean drinking water from Des Moines and one with dirty water from the river upstream.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvQr1aBxBsg
“As an enviornmental attorney, Josh built a career taking on polluters,” a female voice-over says. The narrator briefly mentions his other policy ideas for the Des Moines City Council (roads, public safety and accessibility) and encourages viewers to visit his website to read more about them.
“But on the one issue we can’t get wrong, Josh is the one candidate uniquely qualified to make sure we keep getting it right,” the voice adds as Mandelbaum inspects the water.
The end is certainly cheesy – an expressive “ahh” after taking a drink – but that’s part of the appeal. It presents a friendly, unassuming-looking guy running for public office who has significant experience on a key issue that’s been in the headlines this past year. It’s also probably one of the only political ads I’ve seen where it effectively pitches someone’s career as an attorney in a positive way. That’s an accomplishment in itself.
Most importantly, it just looks different. For decades we’ve seen Iowa politicians walk through corn fields, stand on tractors, smile at parents and kids on playgrounds and watch as a blue collar worker makes sparks fly welding machinery. The candidate or a voice-over mentions three poll-tested platitudes and that’s it. Eventually it just all becomes background noise.
The race for Des Moines City Council Ward 3 is a nonpartisan race, but if more Democratic candidates could break away from the cookie cutter ads in favor of these creative ones, maybe voters would pay more attention to their campaigns.
The election for Ward 3 is November 7.
by Pat Rynard
Posted 10/21/17

Iowa Republicans make outlawing gay marriage key 2024 campaign priority
Iowa Republicans have made outlawing gay marriage a key goal in their 2024 party platform. During the Iowa GOP’s 2024 state convention on Saturday,...

Department of Justice says Iowa immigration law violates US Constitution
If Iowa doesn’t suspend the enforcement of its new immigration law by May 7, the state could face a federal lawsuit, according to the Des Moines...

Rushing: Iowa State president said the quiet part out loud
I want to thank Iowa State University President Wendy Wintersteen for doing us all a favor by finally saying the quiet part out loud: all the...

Iowa sets aside almost $180 million for year two of voucher program
Iowa has committed nearly $180 million in taxpayer funds to support private school tuition in the 2024-25 school year, which is almost $50 million...

Kalbach: Immediate action needed on corporate ag pollution
Iowa agriculture has undergone substantial changes over the past 40 years. We see it all around us. Rather than crops and livestock being raised on...

VIDEO: Jochum calls Gov. Reynolds’ summer meal program a ‘hunger game’
Iowa Gov. Reynolds announced a competitive $900,000 grant program to feed Iowa children over the summer, months after she declined $29 million in...