The internecine warfare shows no signs of abating. Neither side is relenting at this point; in fact, the attack ads in Vermont’s gubernatorial race are escalating.
Peter Shumlin released an ad last week that cited several news stories in which he accuses Republican Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie of lying on the campaign trail. To the sound of circus clown music, Dubie’s nose, a la Pinocchio, grows longer and longer as the ad progresses. In a previous attack, Shumlin portrays Dubie as a tax break champion and Bush conservative.
Meanwhile, two Democratic advocacy groups, the Democratic Governors Association and Green Mountain Future, have castigated Dubie in two separate ads for his support of Vermont Yankee, the state’s aging nuclear reactor, which was plagued by problems this year. (Dubie, in his role as lieutenant governor, did not have to vote on whether to keep the 38-year-old plant open.)
Dubie has paid for radio and TV ads that portray Shumlin’s plan to provide services for 780 nonviolent offenders as a get-out-of-jail-free card for child pornographers and drug dealers. (Child pornography is classified as a violent offense under Vermont law, so those offenders actually would not be eligible for release under Shumlin’s plan.)
The Republican Governors Association also jabbed at the Democrat with an ad headlined “Peter Shumlin can’t be trusted,” in which a camera studies Shumlin in slow motion, making him appear shifty eyed. Shumlin sent a letter to WCAX, WFFF and WPTZ, asking the TV stations to pull the ads. Shumlin’s letter to WCAX
Expect the bitterness to intensify.
Last week the RGA placed a $201,490 bet on Dubie. Green Mountain Prosperity PAC made seven separate media buys on Sept. 28 and Oct. 1, according to filings from the Vermont Secretary of State. The recipient of this largesse was Cross Roads Media, LLC, an outfit that has gained notoriety as the middleman for Karl Rove’s attack ads, which are aimed at derailing the campaigns of Democratic candidates for the U.S. Senate. RGA and Cross Roads share the same physical address — and the employee who filed the media report lists an RGA e-mail address. There are Vermont-RGA connections, too. Dennise Casey, a deputy secretary and communications manager under Gov. James Douglas’ administration, a now works at RGA as a political field organizer. She is responsible for “independent expenditures,” according to the organization’s Web site.
As of Sept. 15 (the last campaign finance reporting date) Green Mountain Prosperity had $432,771 at its disposal, derived from small contributions bundled by the Republican Governors Association. In an Aug. 8 Associated Press story by Dave Gram, contributors from other states said they had never heard of Green Mountain Prosperity. The organization they had written checks to was the RGA.
Cross Roads Media, LLC, the company that has been commissioned to buy ads on Dubie’s behalf, has worked hand-in-glove with a new group formed by Rove known as American Crossroads, a fund-raising clearinghouse for the Republican Party, according to a Sept. 24 article in The New York Times. Rove, George W. Bush’s former chief campaign strategist, spent $4.25 million this week for attacks on vulnerable Democratic Senate candidates in New Hampshire, Florida, California, Kentucky, Missouri, Nevada, Illinois and Washington, according to Politico.com.
A recent American Crossroads ad buy was closer to home. On Sept. 21, Rove targeted U.S. Rep. Paul Hodes, D-N.H., who is running for the Senate. The ad paints Hodes, who purports to be a fiscal conservative, as a pork barrel spender. According to ‘Hotline’ on Call, a National Review blog, American Crossroads, a 527 campaign organization, bought $643,000 worth of Hode attack ads on Sept. 21 for a one-week blitz.
View the American Crossroads ad attacking Rep. Paul Hodes, the Democratic candidate for the Senate from New Hampshire.
View Shumlin’s ad, “Brian says”
View Shumlin’s ad, “Hold it”
View the RGA’s ad “Peter Shumlin Can’t Be Trusted”
http://vimeo.com/15366147
A little help for Leahy’s friends
U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., has a political action committee of his own. Leahy, who at last count in August had about $3 million in his war chest, is sharing his wealth and influence to help his Democratic compatriots in the U.S. House and Senate. His Green Mountain PAC has spent $436,394 so far, according to opensecrets.org.
Check out the detailed spending report.
Leahy has cut $5,000 and $10,000 checks totaling $155,000 to congressional candidates, including Peter Welch, Barbara Boxer, Daniel Inouye, Ron Wyden, Michael Bennet, Amy Klobuchar and Paul Hodes.
Large contributors to the fund include: Microsoft Corp., EchoStar DISH Network PAC, General Electric, Boeing Corp., Honeywell International, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin and several national unions, such as the National Fraternal Order of Police. Burlington attorney Jerome O’Neill is the treasurer for the PAC.
Check out the list of who gave.
In a letter to donors on the PAC Web site, Leahy says:
I am far more interested in taking care of the tough issues facing our country and our world than I am in engaging in partisan warfare. But, I will not walk away — not now, not ever — from a fight to defend the basic principles that have made our democracy a model for other nations to follow.
Leahy is also going to bat for Peter Shumlin in a major way.
In uncharacteristically impassioned remarks on Vermont Public Radio Tuesday night, Leahy blasted Dubie for using scare tactics in recent ads.
He told reporter Bob Kinzel:
No Vermonters, Republicans or Democrats, are in favor of pornographers or child molesters or anything else. And to run an ad that suggests otherwise is one of these out-of-state kind of smear campaigns that frankly don’t work.
If that’s what you have to run your campaign based on, you don’t have much in the way of ideas. It’s not truthful about anybody, and I think we ought to have real debates about how we spend this $40,000 or $50,000 a year on people who are locked up. Are we getting our money’s worth, are we doing the right kind of thing? But don’t do a Willie Horton type ad – it’s not the Vermont way
.
Listen to the report: Vermont Public Radio.
As reported last week, Leahy offered to match donations made to the Vermont Democratic Party for a 48-hour period. According to his campaign manager Carolyn Dwyer, the VDP raised about $36,000 for the match, which will come from Leahy’s own campaign coffers. At last count (in August), the senator had $3.2 million.
View Leahy’s new ad.
