Bush Pulls Back on Ads

WASHINGTON, D.C. Following weeks of intense advertising in swing states and on national cable networks, the Bush campaign is pulling back on its ads and will air only one spot in the next few weeks. That execution examines Sen. John Kerry’s vote against funding for the troops in Iraq.

Bush’s chief strategist, Matthew Dowd, called the pullback part of a planned strategy to vary the intensity of advertising throughout the campaign season.

“We made a decision about how much appetite the public has for political communication,” Dowd said. “Right now, that has lessened to a degree but it can also increase at some point as well.”

Starting today, the Bush campaign will pull out of rotation the TV and radio ads it has been airing thus far and will put up a spot it had previously aired only in West Virginia, called “Troops-Fog.” In the spot, a voiceover says, “Though John Kerry voted in October 2002 for military action in Iraq, he later voted against funding our soldiers.” The spot quotes Kerry as saying, “I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it.”