Politics Daily

Conservative Group Crossroads GPS Launches Ad Blitz Against House Dems

Christopher Weber — 2011-02-23T14:45:00+00:00

Filed under: Democrats, Republicans, Ads, Congress, Conservatives

Radio ads criticizing 12 House Democrats for their votes against a GOP bill to fund the government for the remainder of the fiscal year hit the airwaves this week, paid for by the independent conservative group Crossroads GPS.

The spots, costing $450,000, also praise 10 Republicans for voting for the legislation.

The bill, which passed over the weekend largely along party lines, trims nearly $61 billion in federal funding from March to October.

The ads slam the Democrats for voting to "continue the failed spending policies" of the White House and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

"They just don't get it," the narrator intones.

"The new Congress was elected to deal with the fiscal mess left by the Pelosi-Obama spending spree over the past two years," Steven Law, director of Crossroads GPS, said in a statement Tuesday. "One of our top priorities this year is to use educational spots to frame the issue debate for congressional action on reining in spending, blocking job-killing regulations and dismantling ObamaCare, and we identified the President's Day recess as a key inflection point in the national debate."

The Democrats targeted by the ads are Reps. Leonard Boswell (Iowa), Jim Costa (California), Joe Donnelly (Ind.), Ben Chandler (Ky.), Tim Walz (Minn.), Martin Heinrich (N.M.), Tim Bishop (N.Y.), Bill Owens (N.Y.), Mark Critz (Pa.), Jim Matheson (Utah), Mike Michaud (Maine) and Rick Larsen (Wash.).

The Republicans getting a "job well done" ad from Crossroads are Reps. Bob Dold (Ill.), Chip Cravaack (Minn.), Jon Runyan (N.J.), Robert Hurt (Va.), Sean Duffy (Wis.), David McKinley (W.Va.), Quico Canseco (Texas), Jamie Herrera Beutler (Wash.), Lou Barletta (Pa.) and Frank Guinta (N.H.)

Crossroads GPS and its related group, American Crossroads, which count Karl Rove among their founders, raised $71 million for the 2010 election and are expected to spend heavily again in the current election cycle.

Listen to the ad targeting Costa:

Listen to the rest of the spots at the Crossroads website.

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House Democrats Launch Ad Blitz Against 19 Republicans

Christopher Weber — 2011-01-31T15:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Democrats, Republicans, Ads, Congress, 2012 Elections

In case there was any doubt that the 2012 campaign season is well under way, House Democrats on Monday launched a week-long ad blitz targeting 19 Republicans facing reelection next year.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said the ads -- 17 on radio and two in print -- will hold the GOP lawmakers "accountable for choosing a partisan plan that will cost jobs and make America less competitive."

The media campaign is part of the DCCC's "Drive to 25" grassroots endeavor that will also include web ads, phone calls, and emails in targeted districts.

A radio spot calling out Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle, R-N.Y., touts President Obama's plan to increase funding for research and development by technology firms.

"That plan makes a lot of sense," the narrator intones. "But Congresswoman Ann Marie Buerkle supports a plan in Congress that would cut education by 40 percent. And her plan would cut science and technology research by 40 percent, too. Research and development is how we get the new products that create new jobs. How does cutting that help us compete with China and India? It doesn't make sense."

The narrator goes on to ask New York voters to "tell Ann Marie Buerkle to work with President Obama to create jobs, instead of supporting a partisan plan that costs jobs."

An ad targeting Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., gets personal. It reminds voters that the lawmaker missed his official swearing in earlier this month.

The GOP targets are:

Lou Barletta (PA-11)

Charlie Bass (NH-02)

Ann Marie Buerkle (NY-25)

Steve Chabot (OH-01)

Chip Cravaack (MN-08)

Robert Dold (IL-10)

Sean Duffy (WI-07)

Blake Farenhold (TX-27)

Mike Fitzpatrick (PA-08)

Nan Hayworth (NY-19)

Joe Heck (NV-03)

Robert Hurt (VA-05)

Thad McCotter (MI-11)

Patrick Meehan (PA-07)

Dave Reichert (WA-08)

David Rivera (FL-25)

Jon Runyan (NJ-03)

Joe Walsh (IL-08)

Allen West (FL-22)

Listen to examples of the ads here.

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Mitch Daniels for President in 2012? Students' Ad Urges Him to Run

Christopher Weber — 2011-01-27T17:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Ads, 2012 President, 2012 Elections

Someone has a crush on Mitch Daniels. The Republican governor of Indiana is swooned over in a new ad that will air this weekend in Iowa, New Hampshire and his home state.

Paid for by the Students for Daniels Political Action Committee, the 30-second spot -- called "My Man Mitch" -- is a mash note to the governor meant to encourage him to run for president next year.

The PAC, in an e-mailed press release Thursday, calls it "the first televised ad of the 2012 election cycle."

In the ad, a female student recounts meeting a man a few years ago who bought her a car and subsidized her medical insurance.

"Everything was perfect. Until I got my credit card bill," she says. "It turned he was spending all of my money!"

President Obama's 2008 campaign logo flashes on the screen, on a chart outlining the national deficit.

"Now there's a new man in my life," the woman continues. "Mitch Daniels. He doesn't need to rely on fancy rhetoric or empty promises. You know what he's all about? Fiscal responsibility."

The ad ends with a voice-over: "Mitch Daniels did NOT approve this message. Tell him to."

Watch the video:

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GOP Senators Targeted in Six-Figure DREAM Act Ad Buy

Christopher Weber — 2010-11-30T19:39:00+00:00

Filed under: Ads

A coalition of labor and advocacy groups has launched a "six-figure" ad campaign aimed at Republican senators whose votes are needed to pass the DREAM Act before the current session of Congress runs out.

The AFL-CIO said Tuesday that the ads will run in print publications and on radio all this week in Maine, Boston, Miami, Houston and Las Vegas.

The GOP lawmakers being targeted are: Florida Sen. George LeMieux; Maine Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe; Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown; Nevada Sen. John Ensign; and Texas Sens. John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison. Most of them voted for the DREAM Act three years ago and advocates hope they will again.

The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act is expected to come up for a vote before the end of the year. The measure would offer a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children age 15 or younger. Those who meet certain conditions -- such as a U.S. high school diploma or GED -- would be eligible for federal student loans, in-state tuition rates, military service and, ultimately, citizenship.

Helping the AFL-CIO pay for the ad campaign are SEIU, the Campaign for Community Change, the Reform Immigration for America Campaign and America's Voice.

Listen to the Boston-area ad:

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The Thanksgiving of Our Dreams: Open Your Eyes, It's Right Here

James Grady — 2010-11-24T21:26:00+00:00

Filed under: Ads, Voting

Hey, 2010: We've made it this far, and that deserves a lot of thanksgiving.

Politics is part of how we got here. Part of the good. Part of the bad. Part of our American dream.

Part of politics we can be thankful for now is the SHUT UP factor.

Listen to your lives. Do you hear it? Maybe not the sounds of silence, because the shouting never stops in modern America. But now the volume of political shouting is dialed-down because our latest electoral brawl is over -- except for random re-counts, court challenges, simple twists of fate and Congress's "lame duck" soup.

Now, driving home from work or to Grandma's for Thanksgiving dinner -- "What do you mean there's no pumpkin pie?" -- you can turn on your radio and go the whole ride without hearing VOTE FOR ME! or DON'T VOTE FOR HER! Maybe this holiday you'll hear that baby boomer tradition called "Alice's Restaurant" or that special football game.

And now after work -- if you're fortunate enough to have a job, let alone work that you love (Thank you! Thank you!) -- after doing the dinner dishes and taking out the garbage and making sure the kids are alright or at least as safe as you can steer them, if you've paid enough bills, you can stretch out on your bed or slump in your favorite chair, wand-on the TV without getting whacked by propaganda produced and paid for by phantoms who poured more than $100 million of "dark money" into our recent election.

Relief from those phantoms is something to be thankful for.

Warren Buffett, that billionaire American icon out of Omaha who blows away clichés with his support of both Democrat Barack Obama and Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger, grabbed headlines last week with his New York Times Thanksgiving essay thanking "Uncle Sam" and the federal government, from President George W. Bush to President Barack Obama and from Congress to our bureaucrats for averting a catastrophic economic meltdown with bailouts and troubled assets relief programs, saying that "in this extraordinary emergency, you came through -- and the world would look far different now if you had not."

And let us share some measure of Warren Buffett's thanks, as the IPO (Initial Public Offering) of General Motors stock last week provided a rattle of truth to the famous oft-misquoted and misunderstood axiom of: What's good for General Motors is good for America.

For the first time in almost 18 months -- since Uncle Sam spent $49.5 billion bailing out that crashing toward bankruptcy iconic car company -- GM stock went on sale and the company raised a record-breaking $20.1 billion. By selling about 43 percent of his GM salvation stock -- stock the government bought to save the company from self-destruction -- Uncle Sam recovered around $11.8 billion for the U.S. Treasury. Uncle Sam's stock portfolio still holds about a third of GM's stock, but so far our investment payoff includes cash back. Thanks!

But as Politics Daily's Jill Lawrence noted, Americans may not view the Uncle Sam-GM alliance as a political victory validating either Bush or Obama. Most Americans are more concerned about the jobs in our hometowns than helping out a controversial company like GM. Plus, skeptics like Detroit chronicler Paul Clemens question whether haunted-by-failure GM will drive its new government bailed-out corporate vehicle into a better future for all of us or whether there'll be too many Americans left behind -- or worse, run over.

Admittedly, looking out the windows of your car, our American hometown still looks grim. There are fewer red-white-&-blue draped coffins coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan, but one is too many. There are fewer terrorist attacks in this land of ours, but one is too many. China and Walmart are vacuuming up dollars, but some Mom & Pop stores on Main Street are not whitewashing their windows or boarding-up their doors. There are a few more jobs than a while ago, but far fewer than we need tomorrow. Cholera jumped to Florida from Haiti, yet for all their costly problems, our government and medical infrastructures should keep us safe from a plague.

But don't let your holiday thanks be just a drive-by "it could be worse" sigh.

Be thankful for what "it" is.

We're still here.

Be thankful that Aung San Suu Kyi can now take a walk outside her house in Burma, a victory of compassion and conviction that reminds all of us who believe in the politics of freedom that we walk in her footprints.

It's that belief muscle -- and how it moves our democracy -- that we should be thankful for this holiday. We should be thankful for the quiet acts of conscientious citizenship that bring life to "the American dream."

Our American dream is really millions of dreams from millions of us.

Dreams of walking with Aung, Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, King. Dreams of being able to gather with more than four other people and not get an automatic Go to Jail card.

Dreams of being able to show the world what you can do, with laws there to help you knock it out of the park. Dreams spoken from your heart and your head without hearing the snap of handcuffs on your wrists.

Dreams of broken hearts and broken hopes but getting back up again.

Dreams of work you get and getting what you work for. Dreams of a roof over your head, lights that come on when the switch is thrown, enough food, with a bite to spare, even if it's not a Thanksgiving feast as elaborate as many of us lucky ones will have: turkey, sweet potatoes, cranberries -- and yes, pumpkin pie.

America is dreams of having a doctor if Grandma undercooks the turkey.

Dreams of being able to walk down the street . . .

. . . without catching a bullet in your head.

Dreams of getting to hear great songs and read wild books and see blow your mind movies that aren't controlled by armies of scowling censors.

Dreams of laughing out loud and crying it out and keeping going.

Dreams of a fair chance.

Dreams of passionate kisses and people who love us in spite of ourselves. Dreams of a good night's better sleep and a dawn worthy of a smile.

The dream is what keeps us going and lets us get anywhere worth being. The Semper fi belief bought with blood, sweat and tears that out beyond our windshield, through the wasteland of existence, down that long lonesome road to history's horizon, this American dream might be The Promised Land and just driving ever towards it means we're sort of there.

So say thanks today. Drive on. Drive safe, drive smart and true.

And thanks to you for being here.

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Democrats Hope Liberal Outside Group Will Provide Balance

Christopher Weber — 2010-11-23T16:40:00+00:00

Filed under: Democrats, Ads, Primaries, Fundraising, 2012 President, Campaign Finance

This year, many congressional Republicans had a number of big-spending conservative groups to thank for propelling them to victory, and now Democrats hope a new liberal organization will do the same for them in 2012.

The political operative and writer David Brock has put together $4 million in funding and is hiring a staff for a Democratic-leaning outside group called American Bridge, The New York Times reported Tuesday.

The group, which will fund media efforts for Democratic causes and candidates, will be headed by former Maryland lieutenant governor Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, the daughter of Robert F. Kennedy.

The Times said a number of deep-pocketed Democratic donors have already pledged support, including:

Rob McKay, heir to the Taco Bell fortune and chairman of the Democracy Alliance, a partnership of wealthy liberal donors; Robert Dyson, who heads Dyson-Kissner-Moran, a takeover and acquisitions firm in New York City; and Marcia L. Carsey, a television producer who gave $1 million to Democratic outside groups in 2004.

Brock told the newspaper that he will file papers with the Federal Election Commission Tuesday to formally establish American Bridge as an "independent-expenditure-only political action committee." Under new regulations approved by the Supreme Court earlier this year, the group will be allowed to accept contributions of unlimited size from individuals and corporations but must make its donor list public.

Brock also runs the liberal-leaning watchdog group Media Matters Action Network. He said he will position American Bridge so that money could be raised for Democratic political efforts via both nonprofit organizations.

Media Matters, which is not required to disclose its donors, is likely take on an expanded role in the 2012 elections, including potentially running television ads, according to the Times.

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$65 Million Spent on Election Ads Targeting Nancy Pelosi

Christopher Weber — 2010-11-09T20:14:00+00:00

Filed under: House, Ads, Nancy Pelosi, 2010 Elections

The GOP, its candidates and related groups spent a whopping $65 million on ads against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during the 2010 election cycle -- the most money spent targeting a congressional leader in 14 years.

The sum, spent from Jan. 1 through last week's election, paid for 161,203 ads that went after Pelosi, according to a new analysis for CNN by Campaign Media Analysis Group.

"Not since 1996 and Newt Gingrich has a speaker been the target of so many elections ads...[that] put Pelosi front and center in the midterms," said CMAG president Evan Tracey.

It was part of a coordinated effort by Republicans to link as many Democratic candidates to the increasingly unpopular speaker. A recent CNN poll found just 26 percent of Americans had a favorable opinion of Pelosi.

Individual campaigns accounted for about half of the $65 million, with outside conservative groups chipping in $22 million and the Republican party paying more than $8 million, CNN said.

The ads appeared to be effective in Pennsylvania, where five House Democrats were defeated. Up to $8.46 million was spent on over 14,000 ads in the Keystone State alone, the analysis found.

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Republicans' Midterm Wave Didn't Drown Colorado Democrats

Sandra Fish — 2010-11-08T23:00:00+00:00

Filed under: House, Democrats, Ads, Fundraising, Governors, Conservatives, Tea Party

One week after the Republican wave, GOP fingers are still pointing in Colorado, where the party saw mixed results in the 2010 midterm elections.

There was good news for Colorado Republicans, for sure. GOP candidates defeated two Democratic House members, Rep. Betsy Markey in the 4th Congressional District and Rep. John Salazar in the 3rd CD. Republicans also took a narrow majority in the state House, winning it back from Democrats. They defeated incumbent Democrats in the state treasurer and secretary of state's office.

And their gubernatorial candidate, Dan Maes, managed to poll 11 percent, slightly more than necessary to keep the GOP from becoming a minor party under state law. That 11 percent and the fiasco behind it is a large part of the finger-pointing.

That's because two big prizes -- offices that won't be up for grabs for six years in one case and four years in another -- escaped the GOP's grasp.

Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet clung to his seat by fewer than 16,000 votes over GOP challenger and Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck after a race marked by nasty TV ads and more than $30 million in outside spending. He gets a six-year term and his counterpart, Democratic Sen. Mark Udall, isn't up for reelection until 2014.

And Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper easily captured the governor's race over flawed GOP candidate Maes and renegade American Constitution Party candidate Tom Tancredo.

"Here in Colorado, you had this island that got wet and wasn't submerged," said Rob Witwer, a former GOP state lawmaker and co-author of "The Blueprint: How the Democrats Won Colorado (and Why Republicans Everywhere Should Care)."

Republicans are left asking how it happened. How much did Maes' candidacy impact Buck's loss? Or did Buck do himself in with a series of verbal blunders, including saying on "Meet the Press" that people choose to be gay?

Should they blame the tea party for backing Maes, who ended up being a public-relations nightmare of a candidate with a range of skeletons in his closet? Blame the GOP kingmakers (whoever they may have been) for forcing state Sen. Josh Penry out of the governor's race a year ago, when former Congressman Scott McInnis' plagiarism problems were a figment of the imagination?

Denver Post columnist Vincent Carroll blamed the GOP's right wing for Buck's loss, saying former Lt. Gov. Jane Norton would have made a better candidate. Buck narrowly defeated Norton in a vicious primary. "The conservative surf was up, and the Colorado GOP couldn't get its big boards off the beach," Carroll wrote.

Over at Red State, Erick Erickson blamed the National Republican Senatorial Committee for Buck's loss -- and for the GOP failure to win back the U.S. Senate. "The NRSC, shortly before the end of the Colorado Primary, sent millions to Jane Norton freeing her up to attack Ken Buck to be anti-women. Michael Bennet then picked up Norton's campaign attacks and clobbered Buck," Erickson wrote. Federal Election Commission documents indicate the NRSC gave only $42,600 to Norton in the final days of the race.

Erickson noted that the Republican Governor's Association coordinated get-out-the-vote efforts in many states, but the RGA didn't play in Colorado with Maes' candidacy seen as a losing effort. Meanwhile, the GOP gained governorships in four surrounding states -- New Mexico, Wyoming, Kansas and Oklahoma.

But it may all come back to an informal but integrated Democratic power structure created in the early part of the decade and documented in "The Blueprint."

"I think the bigger question is, despite the TV ads, was the infrastructure below that in place to help Republicans capitalize on a wave year and the answer was no," Witwer said. "The infrastructure helps Democrats outperform the year."

That effort includes a range of 527 campaign finance groups spending money on advertising, as well as independent organizations designed to help get out the vote. Hispanic and women voters provided a huge boost to Bennet that pre-election polls may not have discerned. And the GOP ground game just wasn't that strong, Witwer said.

"At a certain point, saturation advertising gets diminishing returns," he said. "Any additional gains need to be made at the doorstep, on the phone. Democrats and Republicans matched each other on the airwaves but on the ground, Democrats once again dominated."

Witwer noted that one of the most successful Republican stories of the midterms is American Crossroads, a national group that raised money to support GOP campaigns. That group spent more than $5 million opposing Bennet and more than $838,000 supporting Buck.

"If you look at the brain trust behind Crossroads, these are people who 10 or 20 years ago would have gone to the party," Witwer said. "Now they're going to outside groups."

Even the tea party may be a model for the GOP in Colorado and elsewhere. Witwer noted that group abandoned Maes for Tancredo when it became clear that Maes had too much baggage.

"Both parties are still stuck in this 20th century mode of having a central office, a central leader, a central message," Witwer said. "When the leader stumbles or the party stumbles, the whole organization grinds to a halt. With the tea party, it just adapts."

Meanwhile, moderate Republicans who feel left out in Colorado may see one other bright spot this week. Hickenlooper appointed former Republican Gov. Bill Owens (whom many considered plenty conservative back in his day) to as one of the statewide chairs of his transition team.

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The Demise of Pro-Life Democrats: Be Careful What You Pray For

David Gibson — 2010-11-03T22:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Democrats, Republicans, Ads, Religion, Abortion, Disputations, 2010 Elections, Congress, Conservatives, Campaigns, Health Care Reform

When it comes to the battle against abortion, the law of unintended consequences may be the first lesson for the resurgent Republicans, even though the incoming Congress won't be seated until January.

That's because the same wave that swept GOP candidates to a takeover of the House on Tuesday also washed away half of the 40 or so pro-life Democrats who had given the movement unprecedented influence in their party and in Congress.

Moreover, many of those pro-life Democrats, including such stalwarts as Rep. Steve Dreihaus of Ohio's 1st District and Kathleen Dahlkemper from Pennsylvania's 3rd District, were in fact targeted for defeat by major pro-life organizations like the Susan B. Anthony List, which argued that those Democrats had betrayed their cause by backing health care reform and so deserved their fate.

While the health care law included unprecedented funding to aid pregnant women and similar measures aimed at reducing abortion -- as well as making care more accessible for mothers and babies -- conservative pro-life groups and religious organizations argued that it also included huge taxpayer subsidies for abortion.

Health care experts said that was not the case, and Democratic strategists said this fall's campaigns against pro-life Democrats showed that the major groups that oppose abortion -- the National Right To Life Committee, the Family Research Council and the like -- are more concerned with promoting the Republican Party than the pro-life movement.

"They put all their eggs in one party," said Kristen Day, executive director for Democrats for Life of America, which has been pushing a pro-life agenda in the Democratic Party. "They don't want two pro-life parties because most of them want a Republican majority."

Day and others note that the overall cast of the new Congress on abortion is likely to remain unchanged, as pro-life Republicans replaced pro-life Democrats.

But the problem is that by targeting pro-life Democrats, partisan pro-lifers hurt the larger cause by reducing their influence in both parties and thereby diminishing the kind of political leverage that led to the passage -- in a Democratic-controlled Congress -- of laws like the Pregnant Women Support Act.

"There's been a lot of complaint across the political spectrum that American politics is too polarized on issues like abortion," John Green, a political scientist from the University of Akron and a leading expert in religious voting patterns, told Christianity Today on the eve of the vote. "And yet the results of this election may be to polarize it even more in Congress because the pro-life voices are likely to be less common in the Democratic caucus and more common in the Republican caucus."

And the abortion issue, always an effective tool for rallying both sides rather than an avenue of political compromise, is likely to come up more often in the next Congress, but more as a way to define the political opposition than pass actual legislation.

Father Frank Pavone, who heads a pro-life lobby called Priests for Life, said Wednesday he agreed that the movement needs representation in both parties. But Pavone added that senators and representatives who want to claim the pro-life mantle have to live up to the movement's standards -- and too many Democrats did not do so in this past congress.

Pro-life Democrats and Republicans alike "need to make the issue a higher priority than loyalty to the Party or the President, and some of those who lost were punished for not having done that," Pavone said in an e-mail.

The presence of pro-life Democrats was the product of a decision by Democratic leaders after the defeat in the 2004 presidential election. They wanted to broaden the party to welcome pro-lifers and more conservative Democrats. Success in recruiting such candidates, such as North Carolina's Heath Shuler, went hand in hand with the party's successes in winning Congress and the White House.

But many pro-life groups that were either ideologically tied to the GOP or so used to having only one party -- the Republicans -- return their calls that they did not adjust easily to the bipartisan possibilities, and when the debate over abortion funding in health care exploded, they quickly turned on pro-life Democrats.

Some of those Democrats, such as Bart Stupak of Michigan, who led the fight to ban abortion funding from health care reform, along with Bart Gordon of Tennessee and Charles Melancon of Louisiana, grew weary of the opposition and announced their retirements before the campaign began. All three of their districts flipped from Democrat to Republican.

Those who stayed to fight faced serious opposition from their would-be allies in the old line pro-life movement in a year when every Democrat already faced an uphill climb to re-election.

The Susan B. Anthony List spent $3.4 million on its "Votes Have Consequences" project targeting what it dismissively labeled "self-described 'pro-life' Democrats," and the SBAL claimed victory in at least 16 out of 20 races in which it campaigned against Democrats. The SBAL also worked on behalf of Rep. Dan Lipinski of Illinois, who voted against health care reform; Lipinski survived.

Another danger in the defeat of pro-life Democrats is that it could diminish the willingness of the party's leaders, who always face great pressure from their pro-choice power base, to compromise on abortion issues or even give the pro-lifers a hearing. The leadership could read the results of the election as evidence they cannot win either way with abortion opponents, so better to simply rally the pro-choice base.

Kristen Day countered that pro-lifers have developed "a level of trust" with the Democratic leadership over the years, and she expects that to continue despite their reduced ranks. Day also noted, with a certain ruefulness, that her camp did post a 33 percent gain in pro-life Democrats in the Senate with the election of West Virginia's Joe Manchin to replace the late Sen. Robert Byrd. Manchin will join Nebraska's Ben Nelson and Pennsylvania's Robert Casey, Jr. as the upper chamber's only Democratic opponents of abortion.

The other irony of this election is that a case resulting from an SBAL billboard ad that was designed to accuse Ohio's Steve Dreihaus of "voting FOR taxpayer-funded abortion" because he supported health care reform may finally prove whether the health care law does include abortion funding and whether the pro-life Democrats were unfairly targeted.

The Dreihaus campaign had complained that the Susan B. Anthony billboard (which was never erected) made a demonstrably false claim, which would be against Ohio's election laws. The state's elections commission ruled that there was probable cause to go forward with the complaint, but a subsequent hearing was postponed until after the elections.

If Dreihaus prevails in that case, it would be his only campaign victory this year, and a bittersweet one at that for his fellow abortion opponents.

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Senate Candidate in Ohio Warns Buckeyes Against His Foe: a Michigan Grad

Tom Diemer — 2010-10-30T12:32:00+00:00

Filed under: Senate, Democrats, Republicans, Ads, Humor, 2010 Elections, Congress, Campaigns

A heated college football rivalry has worked its way into the U.S. Senate race in Ohio between Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher and former Rep. Rob Portman.

Fisher, trailing in the polls, has aired a new ad suggesting Buckeye state voters might want to think twice about voting for Republican Portman because he attended law school at the the University of Michigan -- a hated rival of Ohio State University in Columbus.

Fisher, wearing an Ohio State sweater and cradling a football with high school stadium as a backdrop, blames Portman for policies during his service in the Bush administration that led to the current economic slump. Portman, a Cincinnatian who also graduated from Dartmouth, was President George W. Bush's budget director and U.S. trade representative.

"Oh and one more thing," Democratic candidate Fisher says, "Rob Portman went to the University of Michigan... Buckeyes deserve better than someone from that school up north. Fisher borrowed the phrase -- school up north -- from the late Ohio State Coach Woody Hayes, who could not bring himself to utter the word, "Michigan."

Ironically, Fisher was born in Ann Arbor, Mich., but his family moved to Ohio when he was young and he graduated from Oberlin College and Case Western Reserve Law School. A Portman spokeswoman fired back: "Ann Arbor native Lee Fisher is desperate to change the topic from the 400,000 jobs lost under his watch in the last three years. Maybe he's forgotten hat Rob's been teaching at The Ohio State University for the last three years..."

Watch the ad here.

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Take a Whiff: Southern California Republican Uses Ad That Really Stinks

Tom Diemer — 2010-10-28T08:48:00+00:00

Filed under: Endorsements, Democrats, Republicans, Ads, Economy, Gaffes, Humor, Race Issues, 2010 Elections, Congress, Campaigns, Jobs, Economy

Ewww! Are you ready for a political ad that really stinks? If you live in Southern California, you could be on the receiving end of a "scratch and sniff" mailer sent out by the campaign of Republican Van Tran, who is challenging Democratic Rep. Loretta Sanchez in the Orange County district.

Tran's campaign manager told the Orange County Register the ad looks like a perfume packet but actually smells like trash. What the big idea? "It's the stench of Washington," the flier announces." Something smells rotten about Loretta."

Democrat Sanchez's campaign manager Caroline Hogan says it's a gimmick -- no foolin' -- and in poor taste. Uh, yeah.

Sanchez, who is in her seventh term, is facing a stiff challenge this time. Tran, a California state legislator, got a boost in September when Sanchez told a Spanish-language television station that Republicans and Vietnamese-Americans "are trying to take away" the congressional district away from "us." She later apologized for a "poor choice of words."

Earlier this week, the Register endorsed Tran, saying he had made jobs and the economy the "focal point of his campaign."

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Jerry Brown: 'The Most Interesting Man in California,' According to Ad

Christopher Weber — 2010-10-27T22:55:00+00:00

Filed under: Democrats, Ads, Governors, 2010 Elections

A new ad hit the Web late Wednesday: "When reporters interview him, they are known to get lost in his piercing brown eyes," a narrator intones. "He once balanced the state budget with only a stern look."

Another one of those hilarious Dos Equis commercials, right?

Nope. It's a spot for California gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown. Click play below to watch:

The minute-long ad was paid for by the state Democratic Party -- which would seem to be very confident in its candidate's chances, judging from the levity of the material with only six days until the election.

A poll last week found Brown leading Republican Meg Whitman 47 to 40 percent.

The ad ends with a twist on the familiar beer tag line: "Some people don't always vote, but I do -- for Jerry Brown. Stay Jerry, my friends."

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Meg Whitman Booed for Refusing to Stop Negative Ads

Tom Diemer — 2010-10-27T11:11:00+00:00

Filed under: Democrats, Republicans, Ads, Media, Governors, 2010 Elections, Campaigns

California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman, asked Tuesday whether she would promise to stop airing negative campaign ads, was booed by some audience members, mostly women, when she refused to do so.

The exchange came at a conference sponsored by California first lady Maria Shriver, who shared the stage with her husband, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Republican Whitman and Democratic nominee Jerry Brown in Long Beach. NBC "Today" show host Matt Lauer, the moderator, said the campaign had been a "bloodbath" and challenged the candidates to give the people of California a break and "end the negativity," according to an account in the Sacramento Bee.

Brown, California attorney general, at first avoided answering directly -- saying negativity is in the eye of the beholder -- but then said, "If Meg wants to do that, I'll be glad to do that." The two candidates could air only positive commercials for the duration of the campaign, he proposed. "I'll take mine off, no question, if we both do it together," he said.

Whitman agreed that ads attacking an opponent personally should be verboten, but she said issue-based critiques of another candidate's record -- Brown is the former governor of California and mayor of Oakland -- were appropriate. "Jerry Brown has been in politics for 40 years, and there is a long track record there. I want to make sure that people really understand what's going on here," she said. "I'm not doing this in a mean-spirited way." But when she declined to remove ads talking about where Brown stands on the issues, some in the crowd, estimated at 14,000, jeered.

Whitman, criticized for having a housekeeper who turned out to be undocumented alien and referred to as a "whore" for special interests by one of Brown's aides in a private conversation, said, "The things that I have been called in this campaign, it's not fair to the voters of California." She was applauded for that line.

Schwarzenegger, who is barred by term limits from running again, took it all in with a smile. It may be "too much to ask" for the candidates to make such a pledge in front of a large crowd, he said.

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Harry Reid's Former Spokeswoman Reportedly Engaged in Sham Marriage

Matt Lewis — 2010-10-26T09:57:00+00:00

Filed under: Senate, Democrats, Republicans, Ads, Scandal, 2010 Elections, Campaigns, Matt Lewis and the News

Illegal immigration has been one of the big issues in the U.S. Senate race in Nevada between Majority Leader Harry Reid and Republican Sharron Angle.

Now comes word that Diana Tejada, Reid's former press secretary and a Latina, received money for engaging in a sham marriage seven years ago with a Lebanese man so that he could maintain U.S. residency.

What is more, as Fox News reports, Tejada "repeatedly lied to federal immigration and FBI agents and submitted false federal documents to the Department of Homeland Security." She was not charged, the Los Angeles Times reports.

The revelation couldn't come at a worse time for Reid. The election is just days away, and the incident reinforces Angle's recent TV ad accusing her opponent of "voting to give illegal aliens Social Security benefits, tax breaks, and college tuition."

CNN reports that Tejada is no longer with the Reid campaign, though it is unclear when she left the staff.

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Nearly $40 Million in One Day: Political Spending Smashes Records

Christopher Weber — 2010-10-25T17:15:00+00:00

Filed under: Ads, 2010 Elections

The money just keeps on coming. Outside political groups spent a whopping $39.8 million on the elections last Tuesday alone, Politico reported.

The one-day spending spree smashed the previous record of $24.3 million set Oct. 12. And the record is likely to be broken again, as early as Tuesday. Politico said Tuesdays tend to be the most active day of the week for independent political expenditures.

"TV buys typically run Tuesday to Monday, so Tuesdays are days TV gets paid," explained Carl Forti, a consultant for the conservative group American Crossroads.

All that money bought numerous television and radio commercials as well as billboards and direct mail ads in 20 Senate and 109 House races nationwide.

Colorado, with tight contests and many swing voters, was the No. 1 target of outside spending, with $3.6 million spent in the state last Tuesday.

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Rand Paul Stars in the Movie 'The Candidate Vanishes' and Other Kentucky Tales

Walter Shapiro — 2010-10-23T23:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Senate, Democrats, Republicans, Ads, Religion, Debates, Gaffes, Race Issues, 2010 Elections, Conservatives, Campaigns, Tea Party, Economy, Barack Obama

LOUISVILLE - The soul-deadening thought is inescapable -- we have seen the future of American politics and it is the sour-mash Senate race in Kentucky.

The TV commercials are bilious, beginning with Democrat Jack Conway's Aqua Buddha spot that, win or lose, seems destined for the Attack Ad Hall of Fame. Heavy spending by Republican-leaning third-party groups like the Chamber of Commerce and the Karl Rove-supported Crossroads GPS adds to the cacophony of negativism. Equally disheartening in this state famous for folksy politics is that tea party troubadour Rand Paul has spent recent months campaigning Dick Cheney style -- from a remote, secure location.

Paul's only public event Friday was a Lexington news conference (or so it was fraudulently billed) announcing that he would indeed debate Conway on Monday night despite his simmering outrage over the Aqua Buddha ad. Paul, who is not a natural public speaker, awkwardly read a two-minute statement ("I don't think the debate is advanced by personal invective and slander) and then -- rather than taking questions -- race-walked from the room. While there was no physical contact, campaign staffers displayed an uncanny ability to position themselves in front of stunned reporters scrambling to catch up with the fast-moving Paul.

"The Candidate Vanishes" is a Republican movie (obviously influenced by Alfred Hitchcock) playing in a Senate race near you. Sharron Angle in Nevada helped pioneer the off-the-radar-except-for-Fox-News approach to campaigning -- and, in Alaska, the Joe Miller campaign actually handcuffed a pesky reporter. (Oh, those over-zealous subordinates). But Rand Paul, during the run-up to the May Republican primary, was accessible to reporters, happily chatting about either politics or his libertarian philosophy. Then he expressed some unwise doubts about the 1964 Civil Rights Act on national television -- and down came the cone of silence.

Maybe I am revealing my old-fashioned civics-book innocence, but I thought that the way you got elected to the Senate was by (gasp!) campaigning. But that is no longer the Rand Paul method. Rumors of possible Rand Paul sightings inspire the same kind of frenzy among reporters that the appearance of a whooping crane does among birdwatchers. Even though I did not make the trek, Paul did appear at a Saturday afternoon tea party rally in Paducah -- and even took a few questions from reporters. Republican insiders say that Paul, an eye surgeon in Bowling Green, is still seeing patients. That may be laudable in a medical sense, but the contest on the ballot in November is not for Best Doctor in Kentucky.

Christine O'Donnell's Ad Creator: The Wizard Behind 'I'm Not a Witch'

Suzi Parker — 2010-10-21T22:52:00+00:00

Filed under: Republicans, Ads, Woman Up, Conservatives, Campaigns

Will Christine O'Donnell be forever branded a witch?

She may, unless she quickly transforms into Dorothy from "The Wizard of Oz," which she says she is considering as her Halloween costume.

She could do another campaign ad, featuring her resplendent in a blue-and-white gingham dress and red sparkling shoes while holding a Toto dog. "Are you a good witch or a bad witch?" an off-camera announcer might ask.

"Oh, I'm not a witch at all! I'm Dorothy from Kansas. I mean Christine from Delaware."

Maybe Fred Davis - the GOP's go-to irreverent ad man of the moment who prefers California to Washington - is in a studio somewhere creating that very ad. "I haven't publicly stated this, and I don't know if I'll get in trouble for saying that, but our intention was to kill it [the witch ad], and that's not what happened," O'Donnell said in an interview with "Good Morning, America" on Thursday.

Davis told Politics Daily via e-mail, "The O'Donnell campaign had to rush full speed ahead into a national, major race, when they started from a small, hopeful primary campaign. It's lightning speed each and every second, making every day a challenge. I think they are doing quite well with it!"

Another O'Donnell ad shot in the same "I'm You" vein goes after her Democratic opponent's education. "I didn't go to Yale," she says of Chris Coons, as piano music plays in the background. Why? Because she's just like you. Click play to watch ad:

O'Donnell is spending a lot of money on ads created by Davis. According to O'Donnell's latest FEC reports, O'Donnell paid Davis' Strategic Perception, Inc. $20,000 on Sept. 24 and $179,855 on Sept. 27.

Davis is not cheap. He created California U.S. Senate GOP nominee Carly Fiorina's now-infamous primary ad against Tom Campbell that featured him as a red-eyed demon in sheep's clothing. According to Fiorina's April FEC report, Carly for California, Inc. paid Strategic Perception $230,784. It was during this time that Davis shot the devil sheep ad.

One of Davis' most famous ads prior to this season was "Celebrity," which juxtaposed President Barack Obama against Paris Hilton and Britney Spears as the biggest celebrity in the world during the 2008 presidential campaign. He was the creative guru behind the 2008 Republican National Convention. "I wrote every word in that damn convention," Davis told The Washington Post.

Colorado House Candidate Cory Gardner's Ad Hits Wrong Markey

Christopher Weber — 2010-10-20T17:59:00+00:00

Filed under: House, Democrats, Ads, Humor, 2010 Elections, Video, Congress

A new campaign ad by Colorado House candidate Cory Gardner misses the mark... by hitting the wrong Markey.

The Republican's 30-second spot attacks Democratic incumbent Betsy Markey for backing President Obama's 2010 spending plan. Except Betsy Markey, a conservative "Blue Dog" Dem, voted against the president's budget.

Gardner, a state representative, may have been thinking of Rep. Ed Markey, a Democrat who voted for the budget. The problem is Ed Markey represents Massachusetts.

Not surprisingly, Betsy Markey's camp has gleefully jumped on the goof as an example of Gardner being out of touch.

"Rep. Gardner's new attack ad is lousy with the same already-debunked lies and misleading claims, but if there were degrees of 'false', this one takes the cake," Markey spokesman Ben Marter said in a release obtained by the blog Colorado Pols.

"Colorado deserves better than Gardner's half-baked hit jobs," said Marter, who added this zinger: "Frankly, Massachusetts deserves better too."

Gardner's campaign hasn't commented on the mistake.

Watch the ad:

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Univision Refuses to Air Ad Urging Hispanics Not to Vote

Christopher Weber — 2010-10-19T18:25:00+00:00

Filed under: Ads, Voting, 2010 Elections, Video, Immigration

A conservative Hispanic group hoping to get Latinos to stay home on Election Day won't be getting its message out on Univision.

The Spanish-language network said Tuesday it would not air an ad from the GOP-led Latinos For Reform that has a blunt message: "Don't vote."

"Univision will not be running any spots from Latinos for Reform related to voting," Univision spokeswoman Monica Talan told Politico. "Univision prides itself on promoting civic engagement and our extensive national campaigns encourage Hispanics to vote."

The minute-and-a-half-long spot argues that by staying away from the polls, Hispanic voters can "send a message" to leaders in Washington that inaction on immigration reform is unacceptable.

"They had two years to do something. It was all talk and no action," the ads narrator intones. "If they didn't keep their promise on immigration reform, then they can't count on our vote."

Latinos For Reform and its leader, former GOP operative Robert de Posada, have come under criticism from the Latin Chamber of Commerce and other Hispanic organizations, according to Fox News.

De Posada, an occasional conservative commentator on Univision, told Politico that the network acted out of a liberal bias.

"They got a little bit of pressure from the Democratic Party and they pulled it off," he said of the ad.

De Posada said he's exploring legal options.

Watch the ad:

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NRSC Takes Responsibility for 'Hicky' Language in Casting Ad

Christopher Weber — 2010-10-14T16:06:00+00:00

Filed under: Ads, Scandal, 2010 Elections, Video

After denying it had anything to do with the casting call for "hicky blue collar" workers for a controversial GOP ad targeting West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin, the National Republican Senatorial Committee is now taking responsibility.

The NRSC had repeatedly said neither it nor its production company, Jamestown Associates, were behind the "hicky" language that many found insulting, and instead blamed independent talent agent Kathy Wickline.

The committee said Thursday it has severed ties with Jamestown Associates after learning the firm, not Wickline, was at fault.

The NRSC issued a statement to The Washington Post:

"This morning, the NRSC learned that our vendor Jamestown Associates was responsible for the offensive language surrounding our independent expenditure ad in West Virginia. When originally confronted last week, they flatly denied having anything to do with the unacceptable language and we took them at their word. Upon learning these facts this morning, the NRSC immediately fired Jamestown Associates."

In the statement to the newspaper, the NRSC also admitted its previous statements were wrong:

"Because we did not know the truth, we have made incorrect statements over the last eight days, and we regret doing so. The NRSC unequivocally denounces the offensive language that Jamestown Associates used in producing this ad. We apologize to any West Virginia voter who may have been offended by this firm's actions, and we extend our apologies to Kathy Wickline and all those who were misled as a result of Jamestown Associates' actions. The NRSC will have no further dealings, now or ever, with Jamestown Associates, but they were our vendor and we take responsibility for this unfortunate matter."

Manchin is facing Republican John Raese in the Senate race.

Watch the ad:

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