Munkában a demokrácia :DDD
Ads get nasty in fight for Congress
Oct 19, 2:08 PM (ET)
By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Candidates in the fight for Congress quickly learn the cardinal rule -- if you can't say something nice about your opponent, buy some air time.
On television screens, over the radio and through the mail, a blizzard of negative attack ads call U.S. congressional candidates cheating, extremist hypocrites -- or worse.
In Missouri, a supporter of Republican Sen. Jim Talent says his Democratic opponent "is a liar ... she'll cheat" to get elected. The Montana Democratic Senate candidate is "deceitful," an ad claims, and Arizona Republican House candidate "is so extreme and irresponsible he is dangerous."
Citing votes on military and sex research funding, ads for Republicans in Wisconsin and North Carolina claim their Democratic opponent "pays for sex, but not for soldiers."
"It's getting nasty out there," said Linda Fowler, a political analyst at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire.
Negative campaigning is a U.S. political tradition dating back more than 200 years, when the founding fathers roughed each other up over mistresses and more. But the overall tone of campaign ads as the November 7 vote approaches is harsher than in the past few elections, analysts said.
Contributing to the shift are the high stakes -- Democrats need to gain 15 House seats and six Senate seats to win control of Congress -- a polarized political environment and the subject matter.
"The closing argument in this campaign is centered around Iraq, corruption in Washington and the Foley scandal," said Evan Tracey of the Campaign Media Analysis Group. "There aren't a lot of sunny ads to run on those topics."
The Republican battle plan this year has been to turn the focus on Democrats and make the election a choice between individual candidates rather than a referendum on President George W. Bush or the Iraq war.
For established Republicans fighting off lesser-known Democrats, negative ads play a crucial role in defining their challengers. But Democrats have been quick to counter-punch and launch their own offensives.
'RIPPING THEM DOWN'
"If you are airing positive ads you are allowing your opponent to get traction when you should be ripping them down," said Carl Forti of the House Republican Campaign Committee. "It's about making your opponent unacceptable."
With Republican researchers combing local records for information on Democratic challengers and Democrats in some districts rushing to link Republicans to Bush and the war, many of the ads take a mocking tone.
A Democratic House candidate in Kentucky was dubbed "Dr. Millionaire" because he sued patients who did not pay their bills. Democratic Rep. Harold Ford Jr. of Tennessee, running for the seat of retiring Republican Senate Leader Bill Frist, has been hammered as "fancy."
"Harold Ford is slick," an ad said of the man who wants to be the first elected black senator from the South. In a reference to Ford's attendance at a Playboy Super Bowl party, an announcer asks "What kind of man parties with Playboy playmates in lingerie, then films political ads from a church pew?"
As in the rest of the campaign, the war in Iraq has been a prime topic. Candidates in both parties have been hit for voting against a military funding bill that included body armor for U.S. troops.
In Ohio, Democratic Rep. Sherrod Brown fired back at Republican Sen. Mike DeWine. "Mike DeWine is slinging mud, taking votes out of context," the ad says. A narrator asks "What kind of man would use our troops to smear his opponent?"
Research is mixed on whether a sharply negative campaign reduces voter turnout among independents or bolsters it among core supporters on the left and right, but voters clearly remember what they learn.
Joel Rivlin, deputy director of the Wisconsin Advertising Project at the University of Wisconsin, said negative ads serve a valuable educational purpose.
"It's actually called political discourse to have a discussion of each candidate's pros and cons," Rivlin said. "The fact is these ads have more policy discussion in them, and voters tend to learn from them."
With Democrats threatening to sweep Republicans out of power next month, the attacks will get even more intense.
"You usually save some of your best stuff for last," Forti said. "Keep the pedal to the metal until the end."
