Posted on 07/12/2002 7:11:45 PM PDT by PhiKapMom
GOP Opens Ad Campaign for House
By DAVID ESPO
.c The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) - With an image of President Bush for openers, House Republicans began airing television commercials Friday in the heart of Texas, the leading edge of a multimillion-dollar ad campaign to protect the GOP's majority.
Airing on stations in Waco, Texas, the commercial is designed to help Republican challenger Ramsey Farley in his second uphill attempt to unseat veteran Rep. Chet Edwards.
Beyond details of the ad, though, GOP officials said the 30-second commercial marked a new phase in their battle to hold control of the House.
``Republicans are opening up the 2002 campaign on offense,'' said Steven Schmidt, spokesman for the House GOP campaign committee, stressing that party strategists had chosen to advertise first in support of a challenger.
Jenny Backus, a spokeswoman for the House Democratic Campaign Committee, said: ``It's obvious that the national Republican Party in Washington is very nervous that they are headed towards some seriously stormy weather due to the bad votes that Republicans have been casting lately, lost opportunities in redistricting and recruiting.''
Democrats have run commercials thus far for two incumbents, Reps. James Maloney in Connecticut and Earl Pomeroy in North Dakota.
Officials familiar with the GOP advertising effort, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the National Republican Congressional Committee was expected to spend in excess of $40 million on television commercials by Election Day.
Democrats must win seven seats this fall to gain a House majority, and they are prepared to spend heavily on so-called ``issue ads'' that either support or attack candidates.
Under federal law, these commercials may not directly advocate the election or defeat of a candidate. Still, both parties have come to rely heavily on their use since they may be financed with ``soft money,'' which can be raised in unlimited amounts from corporations, unions and wealthy individuals.
Such ads are in addition to any commercials paid for by candidates themselves.
The choice of the Waco-area congressional district appeared at least partially symbolic for Republicans, since Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, is there.
The president drew 67 percent of the vote in the district in 2002, after changes for redistricting are taken into account. At the same time, Edwards trounced Farley handily, winning nearly 55 percent of the vote in the old district. Only minor adjustments were made for this year.
The commercial running on Waco television stations describes Farley as a ``conservative businessman with deep roots in Texas.'' It adds that ``On the Temple school board, he helped balance the budget and made sure values are part of every child's education.''
The commercial opens with an image of Bush speaking at a public event. The president's voice is not heard, but the announcer says, ``President Bush pledged to leave no child behind. Ramsey Farley agrees.''
Republicans would not say how long or how frequently the commercial would run in Waco.
Other officials said it appeared the GOP had paid to run the commercial through next Thursday.
Edwards' campaign refused to comment.
Democrats have not said when they intend to begin advertising heavily in their drive to take control of the House.
Two years ago, it was August before the party went on the air.
The Democrats aired commercials in Connecticut and North Dakota earlier in response to different political problems.
Maloney was thrown by redistricting into a tough race against GOP Rep. Nancy Johnson. In North Dakota, party-paid ads ran after senior Democrats from the state organized a fund-raising effort specifically to finance them, according to sources who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Thanks!
That comes under the heading of wishful thinking. The GOP solified its narrow majority in the house by gaining a couple of seats on balance in redistricting, but more importantly, due to the disappearance of swing districts. The recruiting thing failure is quite amusing. Given so few swing seats, recruiting failure in most cases has not been a problem. Still the GOP has an uphill battle in dumping Edwards. It probably will take a real heavyweight to upend him. Edwards is a very effective politician.
Bump.
BUMP
BUMP!
Bad news I hate to share, but that's how I see it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.