It will be all Linda Lingle, all the time.
The former Hawaii governor and U.S. Republican Senate candidate on Monday launched a cable channel “dedicated solely to providing information” about her campaign.
According to a release, it’s the first time in American campaign history that a candidate has launched their own dedicated channel. It will be channel 110 on Oceanic Time Warner Cable and displayed as “LL2012”. A spokesperson for Oceanic Time Warner Cable was not immediately available for comment.
Lingle’s motivation to launch a cable channel? Voters are too busy to come to political events, but they might watch TV.
“Because I care deeply about all the people of Hawaii and am running for the U.S. Senate to make life better for the people of our state, my campaign is committed to finding new ways to keep people connected,” Lingle said in a campaign release. “By employing all accessible media platforms, we are putting ‘people first’ by meeting voters where they are. In many cases, that means their living rooms, through their home television. By utilizing this new, engaging and interactive digital cable channel, my campaign will be able to further the important dialogue and information sharing to complement many of our traditional grassroots campaign activities.”
The campaign’s Deputy Communications Director Corrie Heck told TPM that the channel will feature “issue” videos and potentially stream live campaign events. More than 95 percent of Hawaiian households are hooked up to Oceanic Time Warner Cable, she said. It’s an “opportunity we can’t miss,” Heck added, noting that the campaign will continue to run traditional television ads.
The campaign is spending $12,000 on the channel’s first week, Heck said.
Roll Call reports that Lingle had $2.3 million in cash on hand at the end of March. The Lingle campaign could not be reached for comment.
David Taintor
David Taintor is TPM’s News Editor. He contributes to TPM’s Livewire coverage, among other areas. David is from Chanhassen, Minnesota, where, yes, it gets very cold. Reach him at taintor [at] talkingpointsmemo.com
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