Democrats Unleash Ads Focusing on Rivals’ Pasts
Jeff Zeleny
The New York Times
9/25/2010
WASHINGTON — Democratic candidates across the country are opening a fierce offensive of negative advertisements against Republicans, using lawsuits, tax filings, reports from the Better Business Bureau and even divorce proceedings to try to discredit their opponents and save their Congressional majority.
Opposition research and attack advertising are used in almost every election, but these biting ads are coming far earlier than ever before, according to party strategists. The campaign has intensified in the last two weeks as early voting begins in several states and as vulnerable incumbents try to fight off an onslaught of influences by outside groups.
As they struggle to break through with economic messages, many Democrats are deploying the fruits of a yearlong investigation into the business and personal histories of Republican candidates in an effort to plant doubts about them and avoid having races become a national referendum on the performance of President Obama and his party. [Emphasis CAJ]
…Negative ads can be successful, whether or not they are fair and fully accurate, particularly if they lure an opponent into responding or if they define a political newcomer before he can define himself. But they also carry risks, especially in a year when voters are frustrated about the economy and impatient with politics as usual.
“Our strongest piece of opposition research on Democrats is their voting records,” said Representative Pete Sessions of Texas, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee. “While character assassination seems to be the strategy for Democrats this year, the American people are supporting Republican candidates because they are providing an alternative.”…
Read the entire article at the New York Times
H/T The Astute Bloggers who note that between negative ads, and systemic voter fraud supported by a corrupt Justice Department, the Dems may well win big again this term.
