Kerry to Begin Wave of New Ads to Counter Steady Bush Attack

[Feanorcurufinwe]

Senator John Kerry is set to introduce a major television advertising push on Monday that will highlight his biography and service in Vietnam, which his advisers have always viewed as his strong suits, campaign aides said on Sunday. The new effort comes as many Democrats have expressed concern that Mr. Kerry is not moving quickly enough to answer President Bush's sustained advertising attack and has not done enough to convey an overarching message.

Republicans and Democrats who monitor advertising purchases said the Kerry campaign had committed to spend up to $27 million for more than three weeks. Mr. Kerry's aides would not comment on the exact size of the buy, except to say it would most likely set records.

The new campaign will not only run in the 17 or 18 battleground states where both candidates' ads have primarily been focused this year, but also in two states where Mr. Bush won comfortably in 2000: Louisiana and Colorado, people who monitor advertising purchases said.

Campaign aides and other Democrats have argued for weeks that while Mr. Bush's heavy advertising barrage may have defined Mr. Kerry in a negative light for some voters, there is still plenty of time to change perceptions. The new campaign is to include two spots, aides said. They will tell his life story and lay out the major themes of his candidacy. Mr. Kerry's aides note that most polls show the race to be neck and neck despite the tens of millions of dollars that Mr. Bush has spent on advertising. "The only thing it's done is prevented Bush from having a freefall," said a senior Kerry aide who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "That, for an incumbent, is not a good place to be."

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/03/politics/campaign/03KERR.html?ex=1398916800&en=569d6201212be83c&ei=5007

[Wickerman]

1. My hope is the ads will remain positive

Subtle digs at Bush, but Kerry needs to get out there and make sure he defines himself - not Bush. I believe Kerry has made his case - but so much of the public gets their news from TV ads, late night TV one-liners (Thanks Jay Leno - have I mentioned you suck - willfully shaping public opinion going for the easy laugh?) and, regrettably, Faux and Rush.

Keep it positive, build on that service, let folks see the honorable man, vs. the scum sucking pig that Bush* is. There are others who can attack Bush* and there is time to do that later.