Colorado Politics

Mike Coffman TV ad wins best of the season, but it’s not the one you think

It’s old news that U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman had one of the most noteworthy political ads of the last campaign season. He was the first Republican candidate to break with the party nominee’s bombast.

The nation’s political media took notice, and many Republicans followed.

But while it might have helped him beat Democratic challenger Morgan Carroll, who was pressing Trump’s GOP kinship with Trump, it’s not the commercial that garnered national acclaim last week.

It was “One of Us.” Besides being warmly shot and cutely funny – Coffman, we learn, can do 62 pushups – but it was likely effective. Different immigrant communities along with differing ages and occupations explain why Mike is one of them.

Coffman’s district was redrawn after the last census to go from strongly Republican to deeply purple. He’s courted immigrant communities to remain politically strong as oak in what were supposed to be tossup races.

The American Association of Political Consultants handed it the gold Pollie Award for “Best Overall TV Campaign,” the best picture Oscar for campaign operatives, if you will.

The Coffman ad beat out every other candidate campaign in the country, including presidential races, campaign spokeswoman Cinamon Watson told me in an e-mail.

Todd Young for Senate in Indiana took the silver and Trump for President took bronze.

The prize belongs to Colorado-based EIS Solutions and Patchwork Creative. Both complimented Coffman, first.

“The ads were a simple but powerful explanation of Mike’s relentless efforts to take our party to a higher ground,” Josh Penry, EIS senior vice president and a consultant to the campaign.

Stated Patchwork Creative Liesl Hickey, “We are thrilled we had the opportunity to tell the Mike Coffman story and humbled to work for such a terrific person.”

Watson cited “Mike’s tireless efforts and hard work to represent one of the most diverse and culturally rich districts in the country inspired a remarkable outpouring of enthusiasm from people of all ages and walks of life. Bottom line, we had a great team and a great candidate.”

In December, the National Journal ranked Coffman’s campaign team as one of the 10 best in the country.

Coffman beat Carroll, a state senator who just became state Democratic Party chairwoman, by 8 percentage points in November, two years after beating former House Speaker Andrew Romanoff by 9.

Good luck with that in 2018, Democrats.


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