A.G. Gancarski
A new Alvin Brown radio spot is in heavy rotation on black-oriented radio stations in Jacksonville, in an ambitious, $5,000 a week ad buy designed to drive turnout in the black community. The spot contrasts “our Mayor” with “Republican party boss Lenny Curry,” a man who is running a “dirty campaign,” who wants to “turn back the clock,” and who led efforts to “limit our voice and our vote.”
The voiceover is performed by a middle-age woman, over a sparse hip hop track with synthesized syncopation and a fragile piano line that would not be out of place on a vintage Mobb Deep track. The speaker modulates her tone, voicing phrases as disparate as “Republican Lenny Curry” and “Republican Party Boss Lenny Curry” with an archness worthy of Grace Jones. Meanwhile, she imbues assurances like “Alvin Brown looks out for every neighborhood” with hopeful, upbeat inflections one might hear in an advertisement for a household cleaning product.
The speaker’s mood changes four times before the call to action — “Vote early. Vote by May 19th, Vote for Alvin Brown,” a hypnotic invocation that the campaign clearly expects to be reinforced through repetition.
Curious about the advertisement, I contacted Yianni Varonis of the Brown campaign.
In the ad, the spokeswoman said that the mayor “supports raising minimum wage to help families struggling to make ends meet.” I was curious as to the extent of that support. Did it include a Seattle-style Living Wage Ordinance?
Not exactly. “While Mayor Brown believes living wage ordinances are more appropriate as a state issue,” Varonis said, “he also believes strongly in having an open dialogue on ways in which we can create economic opportunity for workers and their families.”
Another question is how would Curry “turn back the clock” and “limit our voice and our vote,” as the ad claimed.
“As chair of his state party, Lenny Curry consistently sought to suppress voter rights, the ability for women to get paid equal pay for equal work, and even lower the minimum wage,” Varonis said, offering links to news stories from 2012 showing Curry advocating for state Republican policies regarding changes in voting laws, equal pay laws, and the mapping of districts.
Regarding the “dirty campaign” claim, Varonis provided links to news articles that were critical of the messaging and mailers from Curry’s PAC in the months leading up to the First Election. Perhaps in response to media criticism, the negative advertising trailed off during March’s Early Voting period; thus far in the runup to the runoff, there have been no negative advertisements or mailers from the Curry camp.
What is clear is that the Curry campaign’s messaging will move to the center. What is also clear is that the Brown campaign messaging will pivot on painting Curry as an extremist. A radio spot like this has multiple utilities. It reminds the base of a key messaging difference between the two camps, while attempting to blunt the negative ads that could come between now and the beginning of Early Voting.
