Anti-health care reform activist Darcie Johnston has taken a short break from updating her Facebook page and then deleting it, to produce a couple of new radio ads for her lobbying group “Vermonters for Health Care Freedom.” It must have been a short break indeed, because they are about the worst, most poorly produced radio spots I’ve ever heard. And I’ve worked at some rinky-dink stations in my day.

The ads target (respectively) Representatives Paul Poirier (I-Barre) and Mark Woodward (D-Johnson), pressuring them to support legislation that would force the Shumlin Administration to shorten its timeline for preparing a final health care reform package, so the details would be available before the November election. The ads complain that “Governor Shumlin and the Democrat legislators are trying to pull a fast one” by delaying the details until after November, and urge listeners to contact Poirier or Woodward.  

But the ads are almost unlistenable. There’s no background music; it’s just a woman reading copy for a minute. Poorly-written copy at that. The woman (I suspect it’s Johnson herself) is obviously untrained in speaking on radio; the emphasis is all over the place, the delivery is forced and too fast, there are odd pauses and breaths, and the tone is abrasive. There’s an audible hum in the background, which means it wasn’t recorded in a professional environment.

Johnston also issued a news release trumpeting the new ads, under the title “Vermonters for Health Care Freedom goes to the air waves to encourage Representatives Poirier and Woodward to support releasing health care financing before November election.” Which tells me two things: (1) she doesn’t know how to spell “airwaves,” and (2) she doesn’t know how to write a good headline.

I hate to give Johnston any more pageviews, but I recommend listening to one of the spots as a prime example of how not to do political advertising.

I hope her undisclosed donors didn’t pay too much for these ads. Whatever they paid, they didn’t get their money’s worth.

Addendum 2/16: The Vermont Democratic Party has issued a press release about Darcie Johnston’s unfortunate Facebook post, readable at Vermont Digger which notes that she has close and longstanding ties to State Senator (and presumptive Republican Gubernatorial candidate) Randy Brock. It characterizes her as a paid Brock advisor since 2004. If true, then Senator Brock might want to rethink the relationship. The Facebook post and these awful ads certainly call into question her qualifications as a political operator.

By the way, Johnston posted a comment under the press release, in which she basically falls back on the “I was only kidding” defense. She actually says “I meant no offense to ANYONE.” (Caps hers.) So I guess it’s our fault if we’re offended. Again, is this someone you’d want working for you if you had serious political aspirations?