How Prop. 23 Still Can Win

John Seiler:

Prop. 23 is going to lose in a week. That’s because the Yes on 23 campaign is not going to do what I’m going to tell them right now, right here. Then I’ll explain it below.

They need to personalize the campaign — against Arnold. Here’s the ad, which they can use free. I’m offering it to save California. Somebody with the right computer skills should be able to patch it together in a couple of hours. Or have it done in India for $200 overnight. Here it is:

Video of Gov. Arnold signing AB 32 into law. Voiceover: “When Arnold Schwarzenegger signed AB 32 into law in 2006, unemployment in California was just 4.9%.” Ominous soundtrack. “Now it’s 12.4%.”

An animated chart on the screen shows an arrow rising, from 4.9 to 12.4%. “Arnold’s AB 32 more than doubled California unemployment. In four years under Arnold’s AB 32, it killed 1 million jobs. Arnold killed 1 million jobs.”

Picture of people in unemployment lines.

“Stop Arnold. Vote Yes on Prop. 23. It will stop Arnold. Vote Yes on Prop. 23, it will cancel Arnold’s AB 32 and restore your job, your family’s jobs, and 1 million jobs in California.”

Show more pictures of unemployment lines. Then have testimonies from Californians who have lost their jobs:

Latino: “Arnold killed my job. Prop. 23 would bring it back.”

Black: “Arnold killed my job. Prop. 23 would bring it back.”

Anglo: “Arnold killed my job. Prop. 23 would bring it back.”

Asian: “Arnold killed my job. Prop. 23 would bring it back.”

Voiceover: “On November 2, save your job. Vote Yes on Prop. 23.”

Why it would work

Here’s why such an ad would work: It personalizes the issue. Arnold is unpopular. He signed AB 32 and is identified with it. So use it.

Check out the Yes on 23 site: Yeson23.com. Boring. Worse, it’s abstract. Headline:

SAVE JOBS – STOP THE ENERGY TAX

And there’s some kind of flash thing that’s not well done, with flipping pictures. Like a campaign site from 2000.

Now, check out the anti-23 site: StoptheDirtyEnergyProp.com. What a great, descriptive URL. Headline: “No on 23: STOP the Texas’ Oil Companies’ Scheme to Repeal Clean Energy and Air Pollution Standards.”

See how they personalized it? Most Californians look on Texans like they’re the crooked J.R. Ewing from the TV show “Dallas” (family picture at right).

Next, the site has a YouTube of a lady pediatrician saying something like (I didn’t watch it all), “Prop. 23 would choke all of California’s kids to death.” Again, personalization: A nice lady doctor and your kids — vs. those dirty Texas Oil companies!

The pro-23 side needs to perform a jiu-jitsu here and demonize somebody. Look how this YouTube attacking the  anti-23 James Cameron is so effective. As I write, it already has been watched 150,850 times, even though he’s just a rich director most people don’t know.  That’s because it’s an effective, personal attack on a hypocrite. I first saw it when one of my “Friends” uploaded it to Facebook.

Imagine how effective the anti-Arnold ad, as I wrote it above, would be. It would go viral.

Such an ad is Prop. 23’s only hope.

(The Cameron YouTube is below:)

Oct. 26, 2010