USA: Run-up to the U.S. congressional election heats up as mud-slinging opponents use hard-hitting negative advertising

Record ID: 494626

  • Title: USA: Run-up to the U.S. congressional election heats up as mud-slinging opponents use hard-hitting negative advertising
  • Date: 2nd November 2006
  • Summary: (W5) NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (RECENT - OCTOBER 20, 2006) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) HANK SCHEINKOPF, POLITICAL CONSULTANT, SAYING: "The issue in negative campaigning is always the same, incumbents who are the targets of this type, particularly Republican incumbents, because the Republicans are the party in power in the U.S. Congress and you only defeat
  • Embargoed: 17th November 2006 12:00
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  • Location: Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA80R0JFJZ89BVHLLIB05WHKIWD
  • Story Text: Candidates in the fight for the U.S. 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.
    Democratic Rep. Harold Ford Jr. of Tennessee, running for the seat of retiring Republican Senate Leader Bill Frist, has been hammered as "fancy."
    "When I die, Harold Ford will let me pay taxes again," an ad said of the man who wants to be the first elected black senator from the South. In an ad referencing Ford's attendance at a Playboy Super Bowl party, a woman, displaying bare shoulders says, "I met Harold at the Playboy party." The commercial ends with the same woman winking and almost whispering, "Harold, call me."
    "The statistic is that ninety-eight percent of all incumbents are returned to office. The only way you get them out is by proving they've done something wrong and that's the function of negative and comparative campaign ads," said Hank Scheinkopf, political consultant.
    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. In his famous 1964 campaign for president, Lyndon B. Johnson approved an extremely controversial anti-nuclear commercial, known as "Daisy Girl". George H.W. Bush also took off the political gloves when running against Michael Dukakis in 1988, accusing him of not caring about the safety of Americans by letting convicted murderers back on the street.
    But the overall tone of campaign ads as the Nov. 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 issue in negative campaigning is always the same, incumbents who are the targets of this type, particularly Republican incumbents, because the Republicans are the party in power in the U.S. Congress and you only defeat incumbents when you make comparative or negative arguments and that's the only way you get rid of them," said Scheinkopf.
    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.
    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.
    In a Missouri ad, Republican Senator Jim Talent says his Democratic opponent, Claire McCaskill is unethical and has produced exaggerated audits. Vermont's Republican Senate candidate, Rich Tarrant has accused Independent opponent Bernie Sanders of using tax-payers money to travel the world.
    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.
    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.
    With Democrats threatening to sweep Republicans out of power next month, the attacks are likely to get even more intense.
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