It seems political attack ads are shifting from television to the Web.
Newt Gingrich’s campaign team has launched a Facebook page to attack his fellow Republican presidential nominee, leading candidate Mitt Romney.
Taking advantage of the new Timeline layout for pages, “Romney Record” takes aim at Romney’s history and documents instances of Romney contradicting himself, appearing perhaps too liberal for conservative voters, and making other gaffes.
For instance, a 1994 clip where Romney claims he supports abortion is featured on the Timeline. Other posts include a recent quote from Romney where he claimed that he was “unemployed.”
The cover image on the Timeline attacks Romney for being “liberal & out-of-touch,” thrusting that message onto anyone who views the page. The About section, meanwhile, clearly indicates that the page was “Paid for by Newt 2012.”
As AllFacebook points out, Gingrich’s main campaign page has yet to switch to the Timeline view. A campaign strategist says that will happen within the next few days.
Meanwhile, Gingrich’s digital strategist Vincent Harris claimed the anti-Romney page is “the first use of Timeline by a major candidate in a contrasting way.”
Attack ads are far from a new strategy when it comes to gaining an advantage over a political opponent. Yet, the use of a Facebook page to do so is fascinating.
Given the features of the Timeline design, Gingrich’s team is able to place any Romney gaffes on the page at the time it was made. For instance, the Newt 2012 campaign was able to post content about his life before politics, with a 1984 image showing Romney posing with his then Bain Capital colleagues as they literally flaunt cash.
The cost of using a Facebook page to get the Gingrich campaign message across is far cheaper than running TV ads in a variety of markets. However, the page may not completely be having the desired affect for Gingrich, as noted in a comment on a post.
“I cant wait for Mitt to gaffe Obama into four more years!” wrote George Daly. “You guys are doing a great job of eating eachother alive and showing the world how toxic modern conservative politics have become! keep up the good work GOPers.”
Photo via Facebook
