Running alongside the Subway Series tonight is another intense contest: The Salt Lake series. Or maybe the War Between the Women.
With her first 30-second commercial in the tight Salt Lake County mayoral race, Democratic candidate Karen Crompton will take a televised swing sometime between 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., during Game 4 of the World Series.
Crompton is entering the TV fray a few days after her opponent; Republican Nancy Workman's spots started airing Sunday. Workman's spots are simple and sling no mud. The 30-second messages merely remind viewers that they're about to usher in a new kind of government, and that Workman, county recorder since 1994, is "a proven leader," the only candidate with experience at the county government center.
A spinning elephant reminds us of Workman's party affiliation, and her trademark red background sets off a polite "Please vote on Nov. 7."
Crompton's ads are, like the Democrat herself, entirely different from those of her opponent. They feature the candidate chatting about "15 cities, one community," and urging us to bring in all-new blood, to end past squabbles and lawsuits that have troubled the Salt Lake County Commission.
"It's time we started working together," Crompton says at the end of each spot. She's shown outdoors with her husband and two sons, and everyone is wearing warm fall colors. It looks a lot like "the softer side of Sears," another campaign Crompton worked on when she was national women's power format manager for Sears Roebuck & Co.
So far in the mayoral race, Crompton and Workman have been exquisitely civil to each other, calmly discussing their qualifications at debates and forums. But in war rooms just six blocks apart near downtown Salt Lake City, their advertising agencies are behaving as though this were a fight to the death.
"Karen was buying (TV) time in September," said account executive Chris Knoles of R & R Partners, Workman's advertising agency. "By reserving that time, she allowed us to go in and get equal time."
The Federal Communications Commission's equal-time rule requires radio and TV stations to make the same amount of air time available to opposing candidates in political races.
Workman's commercials are meant to woo the undecideds, said Knoles. Some 23 percent of county voters had yet to make up their minds by mid-October, according to a Deseret News-KSL poll conducted by Dan Jones & Associates. In that survey of 398 registered voters, 36 percent said they'd choose Crompton and 37 percent favored Workman.
"This race may not be sexy, but it's going to be close," said Crompton campaign manager Russell Kennedy. He admitted that the dough has risen rather slowly in the race for county mayor, and that although Crompton reserved air time several weeks ago, she didn't purchase the spots until she'd gathered the money to pay for them.
More than 300 30-second and 10-second commercials will air between now and Nov. 7 at a cost of $60,000.
Tom Love of Love Communications, Crompton's ad agency, has purchased time during "Good Morning America," "Who Wants to be a Millionaire," "20/20" and "60 Minutes." He also reserved "a lot of 'Oprah' " for spots that cost $10,000 to produce.
Workman's spots, in contrast, don't do a lot of expounding. "They cut through the political crap," said Knoles. They're "just to point out the fact that she's a Republican. . . . We wanted a light-hearted, upbeat spot, something that was obviously low-budget," in hopes of convincing voters that as county mayor, Workman "will do things under budget."
When asked how much she's spent on her TV commercials, Workman said she didn't know. "We've got so many people working on them. I couldn't tell you how much," she said.
A survey of the four television stations airing Workman spots showed her campaign has spent some $20,000 on air time in this first week, with another $30,000 reserved during the last week and a half before Election Day.