We wrote [[On Political Botslop]] last week. We think it's a theme of the coming cycle. For the moment, political entities with substantial budgets still hire agencies to write and produce their scripts. #### But sometimes we wonder: why do they even bother? From the Omaha Mayoral Election, [incumbent Mayor Jean Stothert's featured spot](https://jeanstothert.com/) is a recent example that caught our eye (we're biased; it's home). <div style="padding:56.25% 0 0 0;position:relative;"><iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/1070671149?h=7f2a002daa&amp;badge=0&amp;autopause=0&amp;player_id=0&amp;app_id=58479" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write; encrypted-media" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;" title="Vote"></iframe></div><script src="https://player.vimeo.com/api/player.js"></script> Watching this (and her ads generally), you'd never know Jean Stothert is the most dynamic and successful mayor of Omaha in two generations; a model for center-right governance in blue territory. That she built a world class central park and river waterfront, added a 50-story skyscraper to the skyline (it's not yet built in the old stock footage they pulled at :12), and crushed the crime rate while peer cities burned; all while lowering taxes. Sure, she rattles off a few of these points as factoids, but her team doesn't SHOW it. They didn't do the actual work of writing and visual design; instead dropping in top line bits from polling and doubling down on visual cliches. Pick a win, and focus on it! Make it real, present, and vital! Alas; no. The opening lines, Jean to camera: > *Omaha's come a long way, overcoming every challenge* The closing lines, Jean to camera: > *Great things happen when we focus on what matters and keep moving forward* ***What does that even mean?*** If you get 50-80 words in a :30 second spot, why are you spending 21 of them on.. nothing? And why are the words *tax levy* on screen? In a river town, that reads like a problem. Maybe tax levies are about greeting cards (:15). Do you often stroll broadside with a clerk, looking over your shoulder, talking taxes, while she shows you the birthday section? Totally normal. Or maybe the tax issue is about sidewalks (:17), because three people appear to be standing in Jean's, without coats while there's snow on the roof, as one of them secretly records her. Speaking of normal: over coffee with friends (:04), does everyone in Omaha uniformly cross their arms same way on the table, with the same grave expression on their face, while keeping a safe distance from the one person talking? And why does an over-stylized male voiceover cut in at :20 to re-re-introduce Jean? While she invades the personal space of otherwise happy looking children? In slow motion? Are they afraid of taxes? Is *that* normal behavior in Omaha? Alas; no. ##### Here's our [[On Political Botslop#^d3dbe4|botslop checklist]] from just last week. Her agency touches 'em all! ![[Screenshot 2025-05-17 at 9.10.05 AM.png]] Call it the Botslop Grand Slam. ##### For fun, Here's a quick prompt & response from Chat GPT : ![[Screenshot 2025-04-07 at 8.21.59 PM.png]] Basically the same concept. Better, or worse? We'd argue better, if only slightly. "*She listens, she acts, she gets things done.*" Doesn't really mean anything, but the sentence structure is tight. Also, are there any results that aren't *real* results? If the results aren't materially viable, are they actually results? That's another question for the [[On Political Botslop#^5d1ae8|philosophers]]. As ad copy, it's common phrasing. Politicians on TV talk about "real results" all the time - that's [[LLMs|why it's in the AI output]]. And that's why its nothing more than alliterative dissonance from copywriters, human or computer, unable to [[make every word matter|write tight]]. One more wasted word. Just like they call each other 'career politicians' and adhere to XYZ state's 'values.' Noise to the ear, and a signal to the brain: shut off. ### Ranting and needling aside, shutting off voters' brains doesn't work. Jean’s internal polling had her at 38% on the ballot before the jungle primary began, in January. After outspending the field by multiples, essentially in full control of information flow and with near universal name ID, she finished with. . . 38%. Which landed her a runoff in a Democratic city in a tough year; out of momentum and out of ideas. So they closed the campaign accusing John Ewing, a nice fellow and a former cop, [of transing kids](https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/omaha-mayor-election-trans-rights-john-ewing/). With no evidence. *In a Kamala plus 15 electorate!* The race was called against Jean right after the polls closed; a 57-43 loss. She won 65-35 four years ago. The environment matters. But so does good advertising. The lack of visual or narrative consistency in Jean's campaign means you'd never know she's different than a garden variety politician. She looked and sounded like one. So the voters treated her like one. Jean's agency robbed her of her magic. Enough. Delete your Final Cut Pro account. The 1's and 0's have passed you by, and outsourcing your thinking [is hurting the ball club.](https://youtu.be/ao_0INP14DI?feature=shared&t=254) --- In further proof irony lives and thrives: the agency in question announced big layoffs a few weeks ago. [They plan to lean into AI](https://x.com/axiosalex/status/1908230681055891636). Our empathy to those looking for a new gig.