Arkansans experiencing thousands of bite-size 30-second political ads are about to encounter something new -- a super-size U.S. Senate commercial.
U.S. Rep. Tom Cotton, the Republican candidate seeking to unseat Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor will air a 14-minute documentary about his Yell County roots the weekend before the election. The campaign bought half-hour blocks of airtime on stations in the Little Rock, Fort Smith and Jonesboro markets to run the autobiographical short twice during those blocks.
The documentary commercial, titled "Dardanelle Boys Always Come Home," was scheduled to begin running today, but the campaign said a mix-up in shipping delayed the start date.
A two-minute teaser for the documentary also will run in movie theaters in Pulaski, Saline and Faulkner counties next weekend.
Pryor's campaign, which released four 30-second television commercials Friday, said all the negative television ads had been taken down as of Friday. The four ads in the news release focus on endorsements, accomplishments and bridge-building.
One of the new commercials for Pryor is an endorsement from retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark, who ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004. Others have him talking directly to the camera about his beliefs and his record.
Joe Giammo, a political science professor at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, said the strategy of the long-form documentary could work in the campaign's favor.
"First, it allows a candidate to present a message that won't fit into a 30-second ad, and biographical spots most often make for more compelling long videos than do discussions of the ins and outs of policy issues," Giammo said. "Second, since it is something that happens fairly rarely, it is likely to generate a significant amount of media coverage. In fact, I suspect that more people will see media coverage of this decision than will actually watch the video."
Giammo said several presidential campaigns, including Barack Obama, Ross Perot and Newt Gingrich, have released similar ads. But, he said, Cotton's latest ad may not get voters' attention.
"With all the media attention on and advertising for this specific race, of course, there is a real possibility that many people are tired of it and are going to tune out any additional information about either candidate," he said.
Cotton spokesman David Ray said the campaign spent about $100,000 on airtime for "Dardanelle Boys."
The documentary was largely shot during Dardanelle High School's homecoming weekend this year and features interviews with the candidate's parents, Avis and Len Cotton, as well as soldiers who served with Cotton in the Army. Mixed in is video of the Cottons preparing for their son's visit, old photographs and football game footage.
Washington political magazine Roll Call compared the clip to the television show Friday Night Lights.
Ray said the documentary will air throughout the day, but not during prime time.
The campaign said the unusual ad-buy helps move the campaign in a more positive direction and away from negative advertisements.
"As voters tire of a campaign that has dragged on for over twelve months, this video offers a welcome respite from the deluge of negative ads from outside groups and Hail Mary desperation from Mark Pryor," Cotton campaign manager Justin Brasell wrote in an emailed statement.
Democrats rebut claims that the Republican is going positive, pointing to two anti-Pryor ads released by Cotton's campaign earlier this week.
"Arkansans deserve a responsible, respected leader like Mark Pryor, someone they can trust to listen to people and work across party lines to get things done for the people of this state," Pryor's deputy campaign manager Erik Dorey said in an emailed statement.
Metro on 10/25/2014