A Bob And His Blog

LAist is increasingly impressed with the early efforts of mayoral hopeful Bob Hertzberg. Bob is currently fielding a great TV spot that's designed to ferry civic-minded Angelenos over to his dynamic Change LA website. It offers a parade of attractive digital photographs and a Hertzberg voice-over that contains fair criticisms about the city's current leadership. The ad demonstrates that Bob, who cut his teeth as an advance man for Jimmy Carter's White House press office, is politically savvy as well as technologically up-to-date. This politics-obsessed LAist hasn't seen a spot this good from either Presidential campaign.

One of the problems with Howard Dean's campaign (disclosure time! I worked for Dean in New York when I was in college) was that the majority of its supporters came from traditionally liberal constituencies, making a lot of its grassroots efforts moot. But L.A. is a democratic stronghold, and it's reasonable to speculate that a Dean-esque effort could catch fire among young citizens who are hungry for a significant chance to make a difference.

If Antonio Villaraigosa (who's savvy himself, he wisely backed Kerry over Dean early in the primary) is actually entering the race, he might want to turn his focus towards Bloggin' Bob instead of his Spring Street nemesis. Any campaign could stand to learn a lot from this other former Assembly Speaker's early work.

Update: Apparently the spot won't be aired on TV - it's a web exclusive. Too bad!