Posted on 08/20/2004 10:10:19 AM PDT by kjfpolitical
As the Republican U.S. Senate primary heads into its final 10 days, many voters are now paying attention - just in time for a blast of critical ads aimed at undecided voters.
Doug Gallagher, a wealthy Miami business executive, launched a radio ad calling himself a "successful businessman" and labeling rivals Bill McCollum and Mel Martinez "the M&M boys." He called McCollum "a lobbyist beholden to special interests" and Martinez the "president of the trial lawyers."
"We've tried it their way. Now let's try it our way," says Gallagher, who is financing his campaign with nearly $6-million of his own money. Today, Gallagher's "M&M boys" message will spread to television stations statewide.
But Republican strategist David Johnson, a former party official in Florida who's not involved in the race, said attack ads are risky now because voters in parts of three media markets are much more concerned about electricity, phone service, their homes and their jobs in the wake of Hurricane Charley.
"I don't think the voters of Florida are really in the mood for that sort of thing. Not after the hurricane we've gone through," Johnson said. "I think it will be difficult for Doug to pull that off."
Gallagher's radio ad, however, ignited a political brush fire Thursday among the McCollum and Martinez campaigns.
McCollum's campaign criticized Gallagher for "taking the low road," and predicted Martinez, too, would soon launch attacks.
Martinez accused McCollum of "siding with John Kerry to attack President Bush's ban on embryonic stem cell research" and supporting an expanded federal hate crime law "to make homosexuals a protected class."
Martinez is running his own radio ad featuring Ken Connor, a prominent antiabortion activist who cites the stem cell research issue on conservative and Christian radio.
While Martinez "stands with President Bush against expanded human embryo stem cell research, sadly, Bill McCollum and Doug Gallagher side with John Kerry on this defining issue," Connor says in the ad.
McCollum, a former 20-year member of Congress, is a lawyer with the firm Baker & Hostetler.
Gallagher, the brother of Florida Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher, is placing third in most polls, behind McCollum and Martinez.
Hits Castor for "failure of leadership" for putting up w/Sami Al-Arian and Islamic Jihad when she was USF pres (93 - 99).
I knew about Sami Al-Arian mostly because of Jim Quinn's righteous indignation. There's no one like him; hope he and Rose are still doing a good job for you all in getting the conservative message out.
And you all, as well. We're battening down the hatches here in FL.
Google >> Pete Deutsch:
"In June, he (Deutsch) came under heavy criticism from the Castor campaign after American Democracy Project, a 527 group run by Bernie Friedman, began which brought to light Castor's "improper” [sic] handling of the Sami al-Arian incident. Rep. Deutsch has denied any involvement in the ADP efforts, including ADP's website castortruth.com.
(??? = "The group behind"
Hi cyn.
I don't listen as often because I'm up late working, but I try to catch the show whenever possible.
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