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MD-SEN: Republican Steele's New Ad Hits "Washington Establishment"
Yesterday the DSCC hit Michael Steele It only took one day, but Steele already has a reply up, dismissing their effort as "nasty ads from the Washington crowd." The ad has Steele promising straight talk and then pouncing on Dem nominee Ben Cardin as "more of the same." Steele might seem like the last person who should run an anti-establishment message—his candidacy is a frontline effort for the national GOP's black outreach, and he's received extensive fundraising thanks to Bush. However, the ad itself could actually be well-aimed at historically Democratic Maryland, and it strangely manages to be both hard-hitting and friendly all at once. Check it out here.
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Well, Cardin has put Steele in the driver's seat when it comes to ads, and if he doesn't jerk the wheel soon, he's not going to like the destination.
September 27, 2006 7:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
KC in DC
A few points about these ads.
First, Steele had his ad about "the Washington Crowd" up first. To my knowledge, neither Cardin nor the state or national party had any ads up until yesterday.
Second, unsurprisingly, this ad is slick and misleading. Take prescription drugs. I don't know for sure what Steele's policy is, but Montgomery Co. had a law allowing reimportation from Canada for its employees, if I remember correctly. The Feds sued and got the law overturned, I think on a preemption theory (that the Medicare prescription drug bill would ban reimportation). So what would Steele actually do about this? Anything? Introduce legislation to fix Bush's Medicare bill? Probably not; or introduce a bill and nothing more. As for drug money, this too is misleading. Cardin has taken campaign contributions from drug companies (maybe not wise, but perfectly legal). Steele then says he wants to ban "gifts" from "special interests." There are already gift rules, which people like Tom DeLay and Bob Ney have run afoul of. And what does he mean by "special interests?" No doubt groups that support Democrats.
Third, Steele has now appeared in two ads with this puppy, and the Dems want to tie the puppy's leash around his neck. At a major rally yesterday, Barack Obama made the point that he will concede that Steele probably does like puppies, but this election is not about puppies. The puppy is a device to make Steele look less threatening (which is also achieved by conspicuously omitting any mention of his party affiliation).
So, the DSCC ad, I think, is an effective counter to this warm and cuddly Michael Steele. As Obama said, Steele is an affable guy, and he may like puppies. But so what? As the DSCC ad says, he may like puppies, but he LOVES George Bush. If that's a negative ad, so be it. I happen to agree that supporting George Bush is a negative. Anyone who even made the mistake of voting for him should hang his head in shame, but should at least admit the error of his ways. If you still support Bush today, despite everything he has done in the last 6 years, yes, that's a negative and should be.
September 28, 2006 10:24 AM | Reply | Permalink