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Iowa Ads Got Unlikely Results

Caucusgoers may have known too much about 'establishment' candidates

By Lucas Laursen,  Newser Staff

Posted Jan 7, 2008 10:45 AM CST

(Newser) – The Iowa caucus results shook up more than just political campaigns, reports Advertising Age, as age-old advertising truisms also flew out the window. Mitt Romney’s $7.9 million on broadcast ads should have sealed the deal against Mike Huckabee, who spent just $1.7 million. Like Barack Obama (who did outspend his rivals), Huckabee came across as anti-establishment, which may have clinched his victory.

The lesson: Message might matter as much as media saturation. Romney and Hillary Clinton got through to Iowans, but “the more they saw, the less they liked," says a Huffington Post exec. Demographics turned out to be less reliable than expected, too, as younger women sided with Obama over Clinton.

This image from video released by the Huckabee Campaign shows Republican presidential candidate and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in a campaign ad titled What Really Matters. In the ad Huckabee, an ordained Southern Baptist minister, appeals to the Republican Party's important conservative Christian base, and reminds them that he...
This image from video released by the Huckabee Campaign shows Republican presidential candidate and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in a campaign ad titled "What Really Matters". In the ad Huckabee,...   (Associated Press)
Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., gestures at a rally in Nashua, N.H., Sunday, Jan. 6, 2008. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., gestures at a rally in Nashua, N.H., Sunday, Jan. 6, 2008. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)   (Associated Press)
A television ad for Democratic presidential hopeful, former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., is previewed in the control room of KCCI Television, Friday, Nov. 16, 2007, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Steve Pope)
A television ad for Democratic presidential hopeful, former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., is previewed in the control room of KCCI Television, Friday, Nov. 16, 2007, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Steve...   (Associated Press)
Television director Arijana Huskanovic previews an ad for Democratic presidential hopeful, former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., in the control room of KCCI Television, Friday, Nov. 16, 2007, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Steve Pope)
Television director Arijana Huskanovic previews an ad for Democratic presidential hopeful, former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., in the control room of KCCI Television, Friday, Nov. 16, 2007, in Des Moines,...   (Associated Press)
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Hopeful advertising.   (BarackObamadotcom (YouTube))

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