Democrats Go on the Attack

LOS ANGELES The leading Democratic presidential hopefuls on Tuesday launched fresh ad salvos, seeking to clarify their own positions and cast aspersions on their rivals leading into this month's Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary.Both Howard Dean, the former Vermont governor and current frontrunner, and Rep. Richard Gephardt target other Democrats in separate efforts to stand apart from a crowded field.A new ad from Dean attacks Gephardt and Senators John Kerry and John Edwards for their supporting the war in Iraq. A voiceover says: "Where did the Washington Democrats stand on the war? Dick Gephardt wrote the resolution to authorize war. John Kerry and John Edwards both voted for the war. Then Dick Gephardt voted to spend another $87 billion on Iraq. Howard Dean has a different view."A Gephardt ad, "Led," employs images of various Democratic hopefuls as a voiceover says: "1993. Democratic Leader Dick Gephardt passes the Clinton Economic Plan leading to millions of new jobs. Dick Gephardt led the opposition to NAFTA and the China Trade Deal. Howard Dean, John Kerry and Joe Lieberman all supported NAFTA." Gephardt then appears on camera: "We must raise global standards so that everyone, everywhere does better. As president, I won't sign trade agreements with countries that use slave and child labor."In "Together," a second ad released today by Gephardt, the candidate is pictured addressing a small gathering. "I think we're all tied together. Martin Luther once said we're all woven together in a single garment of destiny. What effects one directly, affects all the rest of us indirectly. He also said, "I can't be what I ought to be until you can be what you ought to be.' When I'm president, I'm going to try to figure out how every person in this country fulfills his God-given potential."Former U.S. Army General Wesley Clark continues to soften his image to ameliorate a perceived gender gap. A 30-second spot called "Secretary," breaking in New Hampshire, Boston and Burlington, Vt., is a tribute to his mother. Against black-and-white photos of Clark as a youngster and with his mother, the voiceover reads: "The boy was nearly four when his father died. His mother gathered him up and returned home to Arkansas. She found a job as a secretary in a bank. It didn't pay much. But that job kept their heads above water and held them together. So is it any wonder that Wes Clark's plans for jobs are bold and real? Wes Clark will never forget what one job can mean to a family's life and a young child's hopes.""General Clark has great compassion for working women," said Maya Israel, Clark's associate communications director. "The ad was in the hopper for a long time, so I don't think you can say that it is a response to polls." Joe Slade White, East Aurora, N.Y., created the ad.Meanwhile, Edwards makes an issue of political ads themselves, suggesting that his paid media messages won't go "negative" as he literally "runs" (jogging past an American flag) for president in a spot breaking in New Hampshire. Edwards himself provides the voiceover: "I was born 50 years ago to a family with little material wealth, but a belief that in America anything is possible," Edwards says over scenes of him running and greeting crowds, as well as black-and-white photographs of previous campaigns. "When people doubted I'd become a lawyer or get elected to the United States Senate, I proved them wrong and I won."

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Democrats Go on the Attack

Gregory Solman

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Gregory Solman