Posted on 06/23/2014 1:23:38 PM PDT by nickcarraway
The Mississippi GOP primary runoff between U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran and state Sen. Chris McDaniel has seen both outside groups and the campaigns themselves get locked into an advertising war centered on two big issues: federal spending and the conservative credentials of both candidates.
Should voters on Tuesday give another six years to a senator who’s brought billions of dollars in spending from Washington? Or should the keys be handed over to an attorney and former radio host who promises to be a real conservative representing the nation’s poorest state?
Continue Reading Text Size -+reset Chris McDaniel ad: 'History'
Latest on POLITICO Harding affair letters going public Twitter reviews Obama's Chipotle run Pols try again at jobless benefits Kelley Drye brings on two Court raises bar for securities class action cases Silver Line's first leg to open July 26 Cochran’s advertising strategy now is almost all about what he can do for the state and his sway over federal dollars. Since he hasn’t faced such a tough race in a long time, he’s re-introducing himself to many voters and reminding them what’s he done for them.
One ad that the campaign has run in heavy circulation in the past week, called “More For Mississippi,” shows Cochran sitting in the living room of his Oxford, Miss., cabin and talks up his past work to support “our aerospace industry, shipbuilding, military bases, research and development and agricultural breakthroughs.” The screen lists twenty institutions or companies that have benefited from federal largess, including “Catfish and Cotton Research” in Stoneville, Miss.
“Thad Cochran’s strong leadership makes it happen. He’s a powerful voice for our state. Let’s keep him working for us,” the narrator intones.
There’s not one mention of “conservative” in the ad, which may be indicative of an apparent strategy to get moderate Republicans and Democrats to vote for him in Tuesday’s run-off.
Cochran’s ads, made by Stuart Stevens’ firm Strategic Partners & Media and Frontier Strategies run by Quinton Dickerson and Josh Gregory, play heavily on the senator’s personal likeability and easy-going nature.
But Cochran’s campaign also recently released a harsh attack ad against McDaniel with clips of him saying things on his former radio show such as: “It’s so interesting to see this woman, basically using her … breasts to run for office” and “Mamacita. Hey hot momma. … You’re a fine looking young thing.”
The ad ends with McDaniel yelling “I’m not done! I’m not done!” and the narrator assertively says: “Chris McDaniel – You are done,” the last three words highlighted in red text.
“McDaniel spent hundreds of hours on radio,” said a Cochran campaign source. “About 10 hours have come out so far, the rest would be were he the nominee. And people can make their own decision about what they think of it, and whether or not it’s what they want in their next senator.”
His campaign has also shifted away from previous ads that hit hot-button conservative issues. Before the primary, it ran ads bragging about his opposition to “Obamacare” and that he had been endorsed by the NRA.
“[They are trying] to change the electorate to bring in more liberal Democrats,” said a McDaniel campaign source. “They have focused much more on sort of a more general-election type strategy, reaching out to Democrats, much less on ideology.” Democrats who didn’t vote in their June 3 primary are eligible to vote in the runoff.
All these ads have inundated the state in recent days and weeks, and it’s hard for voters to get a respite from them.
“It’s just a total barrage,” said Dan Davis, president of Jackson-based political consulting firm Southern Research Group, some of whose clients support Cochran. On Wednesday night when watching a local TV news program, he saw three ads in a row: one Cochran, one McDaniel, and one McDaniel supporting super PAC.
With the race neck-and-neck and only a small number of voters who haven’t made up their minds, the ads saturating the airwaves are targeting an exceedingly small number of people while at the same time reminding supporters to show up.
McDaniel’s campaign ads have largely touched on national themes, instead of spelling out what specifically he would do for voters. McDaniel drew flack for telling POLITICO in February that relief for Hurricane Katrina would not have been “an easy vote to cast.”
The one ad that McDaniel’s campaign currently has on the air, created by the firm Cold Spark Media, has upbeat music and tells the viewer they made history on June 3. The words “Endorsed by Sarah Palin” appear on the screen in the final few seconds.
“Chris McDaniel is a proven conservative leader with an agenda for Mississippi: repeal Obamacare entirely, reduce the national debt, cut taxes and term limits for all our politicians,” the narrator says.
McDaniel knows that voters who care most about federal projects probably aren’t going to back him. So his ads attempt to frame the choice in terms more favorable to him.
“You have to figure out what your message is, you have to figure what message works, and you need to hammer that message home and everything else is a distraction,” said the McDaniel source.
Feeling the wind at their backs, outside groups supporting McDaniel with advertising are similarly emphasizing ideology over state-specific issues. One of the groups spending the most money is the Club for Growth, which is putting money into radio ads and mailers as well as traditional television spots.
Their ad playing now, called “Entitled,” has a somber female narrator saying: “It’s sad what happened to Thad Cochran. He served well but after five decades he’s lost touch.”
“In Washington, he votes with the liberals on spending, on judges, even on funding Obamacare” and shows pictures of Harry Reid, President Obama and Nancy Pelosi to try to tie Cochran to people deeply unpopular in Mississippi. The ad’s faint background shows Obama’s campaign logo.
The ad doesn’t mention Cochran’s opposition to the ACA before and since it passed.
A key statistic that’s cited in some of the anti-Cochran ads is his number of years in Washington: 41. The figure seems to suggests to voters that they should think Cochran, at 76, is too old for another term, although the ads don’t say that outright because Cochran is personally very likeable in the state.
Very conservative groups such as Our Country Deserves Better PAC, Senate Conservatives PAC, Family Research Council’s PAC and The Madison Project have also jumped into the action against him.
The most unusual ad? The “Now or Never PAC” is spending $90,000 on a radio spot that capitalizes on Cochran’s comment last week that he did “all kinds of indecent things with animals” as a kid growing up.
The ad uses the audio of Cochran’s comment and adds the loud sound “Baaaahhh.” The narrator then says: “Tell Thad Cochran you’re no farm animal. And you are not going to take being on the receiving end of his so-called fun any longer.”
The Cochran campaign source said that outside groups were attempting a “hostile takeover of the state so they can own it.” But Cochran has received outside support too.
Groups like the National Association of Realtors and the U.S. Chamber of Congress that have a financial stake in Cochran remaining in office are also on the air, with the Chamber bringing in a big-time closer: NFL legend Brett Favre.
However, one pro-Cochran group, the Mississippi Conservatives PAC, has stepped away from TV advertising in the campaign’s final days.
“It’s more important to put our money into organization than it is to put into TV ads,” said Henry Barbour, who runs the PAC and is the nephew of former Miss. governor Haley Barbour. “We don’t think we’re going to flip a lot of people at this point. It’s a whole lot more about turning people out and identifying people that did not vote last time.”
“The organization, frankly, in the primary [last time around] was just weak, and part of that was just complacency, and the McDaniel campaign was very energized [with its] people working hard,” he said.
The PAC, however, is putting in targeted small amounts of money on mailers, Internet radio ads and Facebook ads, according to FEC records. The message they’re driving is the same as the Cochran campaign: he brings home the bacon.
I have seen lots of ads for Cochran (bret favre) but not not one for McDaniel, has the money run out for McDaniel?
“Cochran really brings home the pork” is not a good selling point for TEA party members...
"Billions in spending" and they're still "the nation's poorest state?"
That sounds like a definition for "squander" to me.
-PJ
If Thatd’s been a Senator for 37 years, and things are still bad, then what he’s doing isn’t really helping.
A few minutes ago I received a recorded message supposedly from the head of the Miss. Democrat Party reminding black voters that there’s still a Dem. runoff tomorrow and urging them to specifically ask for a Dem. ballot. As the voice said, “Democrats vote Democrat.” Sounds like Cochran’s deal with the Democrats for their support fell through.
Yep, tomorrow’s gonna be interesting,,,
Brett Favre is supporting Thad? Come on #4... McDaniels will be better for Mississippi and the USA.
Yeah but Haley Barbour pardoned Brett’s kinfolks so we have to play nice,
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.