Campaign Ads Focus on Iraq, Immigration, Ethics

MARGARET WARNER: All right, well, let's begin looking at some of those. And the dominant issue, of course, in this campaign is the Iraq war and the president's handling of it. Let's look at that with two ads from the New Mexico 1st Congressional District race, where the Democratic attorney general, Patricia Madrid, is challenging five-term Republican Congresswoman Heather Wilson.

We'll begin with the Democrat, Madrid's, ad.

CAMPAIGN AD ANNOUNCER: The war in Iraq. Three and a half years. Still no plan, and America's less safe. Heather Wilson is on the Intelligence Committee, but she never questioned George Bush on the war, and she never said a word about how we've spent $300 billion there.

Heather Wilson even missed a vote on setting a timetable for withdrawal so she could attend a fundraiser with George Bush. That's not independence, not by a long shot.

PATRICIA MADRID (D), Arizona Congressional Candidate: I'm Patricia Madrid, and I approved this message.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), Arizona: We live in dangerous times. We're fighting a war on terror, and it's unlike any before it. An Air Force Academy grad and fellow veteran, Heather Wilson has the experience these times require and the integrity our country needs.

Heather Wilson is an independent, principled leader who will stand up to anyone when it's right for New Mexico and America. I'm proud to have Heather Wilson as an ally in Washington, and I ask you to send her back.

REP. HEATHER WILSON (R), New Mexico: I'm Heather Wilson, and I approve this message.

MARGARET WARNER: So, Kathleen, how typical of that is the kind of exchange we're seeing over the war and the president?

KATHLEEN HALL JAMIESON: It's extremely typical on the Democratic side. What you're seeing is the Democrat framing the issue as Iraq; the Republican framing it as war on terror. The Democrat framing it as Republican in lock-step, as some of their ads say across the country, or rubber-stamp, as other ads say across the country. Here as not holding the Republicans accountable, that's also a common issue, common argument across the country.

In fact, there are many ads airing across the country that tally up the percent of agreement in votes by the Republican to President Bush. So there's a template underlying this Democratic ad.

The Republican rebuttal is ingenious. If you're being charged with not being independent of your party, the person you'd like to certify your independence is the independent Republican maverick Senator John McCain. And if you want somebody to argue that you're principled and independent, he's a pretty good choice. He's also a good choice to certify your military credentials.

Now, notice what the two ads don't do. The ads don't engage each other on any of the issues directly. There isn't a real rebuttal in the second ad. So voters who want to look for a rebuttal to find out what the candidate's actual stands are, for example, on terror or Iraq aren't going to find them in the ads.

MARGARET WARNER: Well, that's right. You're not hearing the Republican ads saying, "Well, I really stand with the current course in Iraq."

All right, let's look at another big issue which is the corruption and ethics scandals that have rocked Congress. We have two ads here now from Indiana's 9th House District race between the Democrat, Baron Hill, a former congressman, and freshman Republican incumbent Congressman Mike Sodrel. And let's begin again with the Democrat, Mr. Hill's, ad.

CAMPAIGN AD ANNOUNCER: Washington is a mess, and Mike Sodrel is part of it. Convicted Congressman Cunningham gave Sodrel $2,000 for his campaign. Indicted Majority Leader Tom DeLay gave Sodrel $20,000, and $77,000 from the House leadership, who knew about but did nothing to stop sexual predator Congressman Foley.

Millionaire Mike, he says nothing and refuses to return the money. You want change in Washington? Then change the people you send.

BARON HILL (D), Congressional Candidate: I'm Baron Hill, and I approve this message.

REP. MIKE SODREL (R), Indiana: Only a Washington politician would exploit tragedy for political gain. Baron Hill's attack ads blaming me for the Mark Foley mess are the biggest lie yet. Baron doesn't want to talk about his work at a lobbying firm or his votes in Congress, like when Baron voted to allow flag burning, for abortion, and against traditional marriage. Baron, those aren't Hoosier values.

I'm Mike Sodrel, and I approve this message so you'll know the truth. Check the facts for yourself.

MARGARET WARNER: OK, again, how representative is that exchange?

KATHLEEN HALL JAMIESON: The Democrats are trying to tie the Republicans across the country to corruption or character in Washington. This is an ad that engages in guilt by financial association.

The Republican, it is alleged, has accepted money from an indicted and a convicted Republican member of Congress and has accepted money from the leadership, hence by implication tied in some way to the Foley scandal. But that's a common move. It's a "mess in Washington" move.

And the Republican counterattacks by implicitly saying, "You think there's a mess in Washington? You vote for that Democrat, and you're going to get hot-button issues, flag burning. You're going to get more abortion. You're going to get attack on traditional marriage. Is that really what you want?"

That Republican move is a way of saying to the base, "Look, you may not like some of what's happening in Washington, but you're going to like it a lot less if you get that Democrat in office."

Now, again, you have ads that haven't really engaged each other on any substantive issues. And the problem with that is, if voters are trying to say, "Well, how do they differ, for example, on any of the issues that are mentioned?" Well, you just don't know.

MARGARET WARNER: One thing we've noticed in some of these ads, too, is that the word "lobbyist," as the Washington Post I think said yesterday, has become a dirty word. There's something like 300 ads tying either challengers or incumbents to lobbyists. Is that unusual?

KATHLEEN HALL JAMIESON: No, it's not at all. "Lobbyist" has been a dirty word for a long time, but it's a dirtier word in a world in which you've got the Abramoff scandal. And so you've got essentially words that trigger very visceral and emotional responses on that side of the ad.

"You shouldn't like him. He took money from those bad people. You shouldn't like him. He's a lobbyist." Now, the question is, why should you vote for either one of these folks? And if you ask that question, the danger is that you say, "Why should I vote?" If you say that, the party that mobilizes better wins the election. And the Republicans are betting they've got the better mobilization machine.

MARGARET WARNER: All right. So now for our third -- and there are many domestic issues that are being looked at in ads, but let's look at one hot-button one, which is illegal immigration. These ads come from the Senate race in Pennsylvania, where two-term Republican Rick Santorum is facing a strong challenge from State Treasurer Bob Casey, a Democrat.

This time, we begin with the Republican, Senator Santorum's, ad.

CAMPAIGN AD ANNOUNCER: Listen carefully to what Bob Casey said about the Senate immigration bill.

BOB CASEY, JR. (D), Pennsylvania Senate Candidate: "If I were in the United States Senate, I would vote yes."

CAMPAIGN AD ANNOUNCER: This bill gives amnesty to 11 million illegal aliens.

BOB CASEY: I would vote yes.

CAMPAIGN AD ANNOUNCER: Social Security benefits, even for the time they were here illegally?

BOB CASEY: I would vote yes.

CAMPAIGN AD ANNOUNCER: And let's illegals go two years without paying any federal taxes?

BOB CASEY: I would vote yes.

CAMPAIGN AD ANNOUNCER: What an insult to every law-abiding, tax-paying American.

SEN. RICK SANTORUM (R), Pennsylvania: I'm Rick Santorum, and I approve this message.

CAMPAIGN AD ANNOUNCER: Listen to Rick Santorum on illegal immigration.

SEN. RICK SANTORUM: Illegal immigration and doing something about border security is important.

CAMPAIGN AD ANNOUNCER: Really? Then why did he vote seven times against more Border Patrol agents?

SEN. RICK SANTORUM: Illegal immigration and doing something about border security is important -- and border security is important.

CAMPAIGN AD ANNOUNCER: And why did Rick Santorum vote against tougher penalties for employers who hire illegal workers?

Bob Casey opposes amnesty for illegal immigrants, and he'll stand up for American workers.

BOB CASEY: I'm Bob Casey, and I approve this message.

MARGARET WARNER: This time we have both sides beating up on illegal immigrants. No one's standing up for, say, a path to citizenship, as President Bush was talking. Is that typical?

KATHLEEN HALL JAMIESON: It's not as typical of some of the other strategies, but it's emerging this week as a strong ad theme. Notice that, in one ad, you hear the word "illegal aliens." And in the other you hear "illegal immigrants." That actually tells you a lot about where these two candidates stand on the Senate bill that passed without support by Senator Santorum and on which Treasurer Casey couldn't vote. He wasn't in the Senate, but which he says, as quoted in the ad, that he would have supported.

You also can hear in this ad the implication that amnesty must be a really bad word, because both sides oppose amnesty. Now, if you're trying to figure out where they each stand, since an attack has been answered with a counterattack, first, you don't know what they mean by amnesty. And, secondly, you actually don't know what their position is on this issue.

You do know, however, that the ad is playing, at the subtextual level, on some very basic themes about party. The Republican ad is suggesting that Democrats just don't do justice to taxpayers. They let some people get away with not paying taxes. The implication is that you're going to have to pay the taxes for them. And they're not very good at penalizing people; you know, they've always been weak on law and order.

But the Democratic subtext against the Republican suggests that the Republican isn't going to be hard on employers who do illegal things. There you've got basic Democratic and Republican themes sitting under these ads. That's an attempt to say to the party loyalists on each side, "Hey, you know I'm with you on these issues, even if you're confused by these two ads."

MARGARET WARNER: And three weeks more to come. Kathleen Hall Jamieson, thanks so much.

KATHLEEN HALL JAMIESON: You're welcome.