There is a local businessman who was elected to our state legistature a couple years ago. While he’s working in the state Capitol, his wife is running the business here. Ever since he took office, the radio commercials for his business have all included references to the fact that he’s a Representative. A typical commercial consists of a scripted conversation with his wife about how the business is doing and what’s on sale this month, and then the last few lines of the ad talk about his political work. The current commercial ends with his wife saying, “…but business would be even better if you got a few things fixed in Olympia [our state Capitol],” to which he replies, “That’s right, but first, we have to win the election!”
A few years ago, there was another local businessman who served many terms as a state representative or senator (can’t remember which). He happened to own the local ambulance service. All of his ambulances were painted distinctively - bright yellow, with his last name (the name of the company) in stylized brown text. These ambulances were (and still are) a common sight around town. For his election campaigns, all of his signs were painted identically to his ambulances - bright yellow, with his name in the same stylized brown text. For all intents and purposes, his ambulances served as campaign advertisements, all year, every year, even in non-election years. The ambulances effectively kept his name in the public eye constantly, and everybody knew his name when the next election rolled around.
I should note that both of these men have been very popular and effective in office. They’re also of the same political party as me. I’ve met the second man, who is now retired, and he’s honest, and a gentleman.
However, I can’t help wondering about the legality, or at the very least the ethical quality of the practices I’ve described. The second practice, with the ambulances and signs, seems fairly reasonable to me - after all, he was established as the ambulance owner well before he sought political office, and so was simply capitalizing on his existing name recognition. The first scenario, though, seems downright tacky, if not technically unethical or illegal. Those radio ads seem to me to be skirting the intent of campaign advertising rules. You know, “It’s not a political ad, it’s for my business!” But while potential opponents in the next election have to wait until a certain date (I’m assuming here) before they can start advertising or putting up signs, the current office-holder is continually reminding everybody of his position and what he’s doing. And while I do think it’s good for a politician to keep his constituents informed, I don’t think his business commercials are the place for it. It smacks of encouraging people to patronize the business because the owner is working for them in the Capitol.
Am I tilting at windmills here?