Posted on 04/19/2003 9:38:56 AM PDT by cp124
Snowe in cross-fire of dueling ads
By TOM BELL, Portland Press Herald Writer
Copyright © 2003 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.
Two Republican political action committees based in Washington are starting dueling advertising campaigns this weekend in Maine, one in support of Sen. Olympia Snowe, the other opposing her.
The ads, which aim to influence Snowe by targeting her constituents in Maine, reveal the political pressure that Snowe is facing because of her efforts to limit President Bush's tax cut to $350 billion, less than half of his $726 billion proposal.
Maine's Republican Party sharply criticized one of the ads, a television spot that links "so-called Republicans" like Snowe with "so-called allies" who oppose the war in Iraq. The ad, by a group called the Club for Growth, superimposes a photograph of Snowe over a French flag, and features a photograph of French President Jacques Chirac.
The ad suggests that Snowe's position on tax cuts has made her disloyal to the United States, said Dwayne Bickford, the Maine Republican Party's executive director.
"It's just ludicrous," he said. "I don't think you can have a constructive dialogue about issues if you are on television saying these types of things."
In response to that ad, a political action committee that supports moderate Republicans in Congress launched $60,000 worth of print ads this weekend. The group's full-page newspaper ad, published today in several Maine newspapers, counters the Club for Growth ads.
"Equating a vote on the budget resolution with the war in Iraq trivializes the sacrifices of the men and women serving there," the ad says. "No one who stands her ground while crafting a budget should have her patriotism challenged."
The Republican Main Street Partnership, the largest group of moderate GOP elected officials in the country, is paying for the ads. The group has more than 65 U.S. senators, representatives and governors.
"When they attack our members," said the group's executive director, Sarah Chamberlain, "we go on the offense."
The Club for Growth has also come under attack in Maine for a news advisory that it issued before the ad campaign. In the statement, the group's president, Stephen Moore, called Snowe, Rep. Amo Houghton, R-N.Y., and Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, "Franco-Republicans."
"President Bush has won significant military victories in Iraq with the help of strong, dependable allies," the advisory said. "Why are his so-called allies in the House and Senate so eager to impede economic progress? These 'Franco-Republicans' are as dependable as France was in taking down Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein."
Using a term like "Franco" in a derogatory way won't play well in Maine, where a third of the population has French ancestry, Bickford said. Moreover, polls have shown that Snowe, who grew up in Auburn, enjoys strong support among Franco-American voters.
Don Levesque, who writes a column in French for the St. John Valley Times in Madawaska, where he is publisher, agrees.
"There is nothing wrong with being Franco," he said. "I understand what they are trying to say, but the message will be lost in Maine."
Moore, however, said Franco-Americans have been strong supporters of the war and Bush, and they are smart enough to figure out that he is criticizing European allies who have opposed the war, not them.
Dave Lackey, Snowe's press secretary, noted that Snowe has been a strong supporter of the war. He said she also supports a tax cut to stimulate the economy. She and Bush differ only over the size of the cut, he said.
"Unfortunately, ads like this can be divisive," he said. "They take away from what is a very important policy debate."
Created in 1999, the Club for Growth bills itself as the "nation's leading tax cut organization." It runs third-party ads aimed at defeating opponents, including moderate Republicans in primary races. According to the Federal Election Commission, it raised nearly a half-million dollars last year.
Some say the Club for Growth ads illustrate just how much Washington misunderstands politics in Maine, where people like their politicians to be independent and stand up for ideas.
Christian Potholm, a professor of government at Bowdoin College and a Republican pollster, said Snowe is in the mold of Margaret Chase Smith, perhaps the one woman most readily identified by the outside world with Maine. Smith battled with another Republican president, Dwight Eisenhower, when she served in Congress, Potholm said.
"Maine people love that independence and see that in Olympia Snowe," he said. "If a bunch of conservative Republicans doesn't like it, that's good news."
While some in Washington are amazed by Snowe's display of grit, others discount it, noting that it poses no real political risk for her at home.
"It's not a profiles-in-courage kind of stance, where you might risk re-election," said Douglas Hodgkin, a retired political science professor from Bates College. "In fact, I think she enhances her relations with this position."
Beth Murphy, a research assistant, contributed to this story.
Staff Writer Tom Bell can be reached at 623-1031 or at: tbell@pressherald.com
LOL, Great name!
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