Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Janet Oleszek Video

I know a rough cut or outtake of Janet's video showed up accidentally on the Internet a few days ago.

I can only guess why it happened. But this is the real, finished version. As you can see, it's much smoother and more professional.

I'm not a professional videographer, but I do know what dress rehearsals are like from my acting days. Even though a dress rehearsal is usually the night or two before a play, the performance is nowhere near polished.

The same is true in taping a video or commercial. Even the most seasoned performers, speakers or politicans, will flub a line, read a cue card, or need a retake. That doesn't make them incompetent.

Far from it. And in Janet's case, I've seen her speak off the cuff many times at public events. I've had personal conversations with her. She's anything but "dumb as a Hoot."

Anybody who tell you that she is has an agenda. They're being a Republican out to win in November, so consider the source.

8 comments:

Not Larry Sabato said...

Here's a guess on how it got out there:

Janet's campaign uploaded it onto youtube, made the video public and tagged it "Janet Oleszek".

Karen Duncan said...

So, somebody screwed up. Point is it wasn't the finished cut. Janet is smart and a good candidate.

I got on board with her because you recommended her so highly so I took a look and was impressed.

I'm grateful you put her on my radar as early as you did.

Not Larry Sabato said...

I've known her for a long time and I think she is the best candidate we could have fielded this year for the 37th Senate.

However, this whining, blaming and crying from her campaign is ridiculous. The big surprise for me is Janet has tolerated it, and it has raised other questions on WHY she is tolerating it. Next time I see you we can talk more offline about it.

Anonymous said...

As much as we would like perfection out of campaigns, they are going to make mistakes every now and then. Unfortunately, that is just how it works. In my humble opinion, it simply comes down to how big the mistake is and how does the campaign respond.

In this particular case, the mistake wasn’t that big of a deal. Yes, it could have been a lot smoother, but even Not Larry Sabato admits that much of the content of the first video was stuff voters would like to hear. So while I imagine many of Janet’s supporters wished the video was much more polished, I don’t think anyone can really complain about a campaign talking about things voters like to hear.

Since the original mistake wasn’t that big of a deal, I would next look at the campaign’s response to the video’s “early edition” being released. After they realized that the "early edition" had been released, they quickly took it down and the new video was put up relatively quickly. In this situation, I think most people would agree that their reaction was a fairly appropriate one.

As far as response to the “new video” goes, I noticed that the campaign had put up the video yesterday and decided to post it on my site. Since then, I have received a number of emails about how people are quite pleased with the commercial. If people liked it enough to email me (a person who isn’t on Janet’s staff), then I’d have to say the Oleszek campaign got its message across.

Finally, would we have liked the "new version" to have been the first one released? Yes. But based upon the quick response of Janet’s campaign and the positive response it has received from some people, one might even say that the release of the “early edition” simply inspired more people to talk about the commercial and watch the “new video” when it was released.

Anonymous said...

AIAW, of course she has an agenda.

She is running for public office...if she didn't have an agenda she wants to push, why run?

The big question, of course, is what is her agenda.

Karen Duncan said...

Thank you Bryan. You raised an excellent point that the campaign responded appropriately as it sought to recover from said mixup. The more important point is that Janet is saying things, not just that voters want to hear, but things she believes and that resonate with the voters in her district.

bwana, you make an excellent point too - that I and Janet have an agenda - good, moderate government with a focus on education, transportation and environmental solutions that help our district and all of Virginia, not pushing a social agenda composed of wedge issues.

And Ben, I'd be happy to discuss this with you offline any time. Perhaps we could come up with some constructive solutions to help her campaign. You are talented in that area, so I'm all ears.

And by the way, I'm so proud of all my fellow Burkeans. We are a civil bunch that likes to discuss the issues without the usual personal attacks and slurs. Way to go guys!

Anonymous said...

I've known her for a long time

awww, is little benny mad because he didn't get invited over to play this year?

Seems to me like Oleszek in a smart move hired some professional staffers and kicked Ben to the curb and now he's a little cranky.

Karen Duncan said...

Actually Ben helped with the hiring process. I'm not sure why he's a little cranky but it's not because he's been excluded.

But I'll be happy to ask him.