Rotten On The Inside
You know it's bad when Republicans are disgusted with the Republican Party.
E.J. Dionne, Jr.
The New Republic
Published: Friday, May 16, 2008
WASHINGTON--Sen. Bob Corker, a Republican elected in the face of the 2006 Democratic sweep, understands the panic that took hold in his party this week following its loss in a ruby-red district.
Corker is familiar with the feeling. His readiness to tell his story says much about the alienation of many Republicans from the national party's stale approach to politics and the limits of negative advertising. It is also a warning to GOP strategists who think that personal attacks on Barack Obama will be sufficient to win the presidency.
Facing a tough contest against Harold Ford Jr., a young, telegenic African-American congressman, Corker says he watched his campaign flounder as his consultants ran television ads that tried to paint his opponent, a moderately conservative Democrat, as a "liberal."
"They were grotesque," Corker said of his own commercials in an interview this week. "It was just the same old stuff." By contrast, he said, Ford's spots were "fresh and refreshing."
Corker, the former mayor of Chattanooga, called in new consultants and switched to a more positive campaign. "We kept the race about Tennessee," he said. "We focused on my life, on who I was as a person." Independent voters who had been attracted to Ford started moving Corker's way.
Yet the national party almost blew the race near the end, Corker said, by running an ad that many saw as racist. The commercial, aired without Corker's knowledge, included a young, blonde, white actress declaring that she had met Ford "at the Playboy party." It ended with her whispering the words: "Harold, call me."
Corker was furious, and not just because his six-point lead melted into a four-point deficit. The party eventually pulled the radioactive ad and Corker won narrowly. The senator has advised Republican colleagues in tough races this year to resist national party ads that mention their opponents.
(Continued here.)
E.J. Dionne, Jr.
The New Republic
Published: Friday, May 16, 2008
WASHINGTON--Sen. Bob Corker, a Republican elected in the face of the 2006 Democratic sweep, understands the panic that took hold in his party this week following its loss in a ruby-red district.
Corker is familiar with the feeling. His readiness to tell his story says much about the alienation of many Republicans from the national party's stale approach to politics and the limits of negative advertising. It is also a warning to GOP strategists who think that personal attacks on Barack Obama will be sufficient to win the presidency.
Facing a tough contest against Harold Ford Jr., a young, telegenic African-American congressman, Corker says he watched his campaign flounder as his consultants ran television ads that tried to paint his opponent, a moderately conservative Democrat, as a "liberal."
"They were grotesque," Corker said of his own commercials in an interview this week. "It was just the same old stuff." By contrast, he said, Ford's spots were "fresh and refreshing."
Corker, the former mayor of Chattanooga, called in new consultants and switched to a more positive campaign. "We kept the race about Tennessee," he said. "We focused on my life, on who I was as a person." Independent voters who had been attracted to Ford started moving Corker's way.
Yet the national party almost blew the race near the end, Corker said, by running an ad that many saw as racist. The commercial, aired without Corker's knowledge, included a young, blonde, white actress declaring that she had met Ford "at the Playboy party." It ended with her whispering the words: "Harold, call me."
Corker was furious, and not just because his six-point lead melted into a four-point deficit. The party eventually pulled the radioactive ad and Corker won narrowly. The senator has advised Republican colleagues in tough races this year to resist national party ads that mention their opponents.
(Continued here.)
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1 Comments:
Why doesn't Cocker tell the Tennessee Republican Party to pull its ad that its running now? It is one of the worst that I have heard ... repeated throughout is Michelle Obama saying that "I've never been proud of her country until now." Oh it will hit a message with Tennessee voters ... but I for one can look into Obama's words and understand her viewpoint. If you were a black girl being raised in a small house in Chicago (that used a closet for her bedroom), you may see a lot of challenges dispite your atheltic abilities and intelligence. And, isn't it fair to say that America has some policies that we do not like ... we may not leave, but we certainly can stay and speak our minds of how we would like our country to operate.
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