Is Bob Clement’s planned media buy a mistake? The City Paper is reporting that Clement is poised to spend as much as $600,000 between now and Election Day on August 2nd.

I’ve made no secret of the fact that I embrace the “Anyone But Bob” philosophy because I believe Clement is a poor choice to be our next mayor. (If you are reading, Clint, I’ve also never cast a vote for him in other races.) At the same time, I’m sincerely wondering whether more exposure is a good idea for the apparent frontrunner, a candidate who is not an especially strong communicator, to say the least. Clement has his strengths, as do all of the candidates, but I think many Nashvillians would agree that eloquence is not one of them.

Opponent David Briley made the argument at a recent meetup with local bloggers that Clement’s votes are “soft” and based largely on name recognition among a crowded field of lesser known (and perhaps better suited) candidates. There have been indications that Clement’s lead has been declining over the past several months as other candidates have run ads and received more attention in the media, though that’s not that unusual as a race heats up.

One of my objections to Clement as a candidate is my impression that is too polished and prepackaged. This kind of focus on controlling the message and even controlling delivery of the message prevents spontaneity and creativity that is present, I would argue, in greater amounts in all five of Clement’s opponents (and, if you’re doing the math, I’m definitely including Kenneth Eaton in that category).

I tend to agree with Liz Garrigan’s take that Clement is a “not-so-fresh candidate we predict will hide behind meaningless press releases and innocuous appearances,” but that last phrase may provide the answer to my question. What could be more innocuous and controlled for a political candidate than a TV ad?

That raises another question: Will increasing Clement’s exposure help him or hurt him, since his poll numbers have decreased as the race has continued? Since Karl Dean’s opponents argue that his TV buy has had little or no effect on his numbers, maybe Clement will experience similar viewer fatigue. But when you’re the frontrunner, I suppose it’s less important to gain than it is not to lose.