Posted on 04/28/2004 1:22:46 PM PDT by WIViking
MILWAUKEE -- Campaign commercials, debates, fundraisers and signature drives are the bread and butter of campaigns, but Republican U.S. Senate hopeful Russ Darrow has added a twist.
More than 600 people crowded the Pabst Theater last night to see a ``movie premiere,'' which amounted to a roughly nine-minute, commercial criticizing Democratic U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold’s voting record and positioning Darrow as “the right Russ” for Wisconsin. The Darrow ``movie'' claimed Feingold's moves to reform campaign finance reform were motivated by ambition and had done nothing to help the state's economy. It panned Feingold's annual 72-county ``listening sessions'' and claimed Feingold hasn't been listening.
In remarks after the movie Darrow said that “Wisconsin has been short-changed for almost 12 years. …I honestly don’t know of one significant thing Russ Feingold has done for Wisconsin in those almost 12 years, except he’s done campaign finance reform and that didn’t create one new job and it didn’t make anybody’s life any safer.”
“Recently Feingold celebrated his 800th listening tour,” Darrow said. “I don’t what he was listening to.”
Feingold, in a recent WisPolitics.com luncheon appearance defending himself against this line of attack, called himself ``Wisconsin through and through,'' adding: ``After 830 listening sessions ... I'm pretty sure ... I'm about as in touch ... as any (elected) person.''
The largely baby-boomer audience at the Darrow event seemed to receive the movie well, laughing and applauding several times during the presentation. The movie was preceded by a reception and was introduced by the prominent Milwaukee business-owner and philanthropist Michael Cudahy and former Lt. Gov. Margaret Farrow, now chair of the Darrow campaign.
Yesterday’s movie comes before a statewide television and radio ad blitz set to launch today. The movie and television spots were produced by Fred Davis of the Hollywood firm Strategic Perception. These are more signs that the millionaire Darrow will be spending plenty of money to win the GOP primary.
The film begins with a black-and-white parody of the listening sessions Feingold holds every year in each of Wisconsin’s 72 counties. It portrays a Feingold as being too occupied with thinking about campaign finance reform to hear what any of the citizens are asking him. After the session, an angry mob throws tomatoes and other fruits and vegetables at a Feingold sign.
The movie introduces Darrow with a bio that emphasized his Wisconsin ties and successful car dealerships. The movie then alternates between criticisms of Feingold’s voting record and Darrow’s stance on those issues.
Among those criticisms were Feingold’s votes against tax cuts, the Patriot Act, the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, the Medicare Reform Act, and the No Child Left Behind bill. The movie also knocked Feingold for having a high level of out-of-state campaign contributions.
Throughout the video no mention is made of the three other Republicans in the primary field -- Bob Welch, Tim Michels or Robert Gerald Lorge. Darrow must beat them to get at Feingold.
But in an interview after the event, Darrow said his experience in business will be a key factor that differentiates him from the other candidates. “I’m the only one that has 38 years of starting a business from scratch and building it…and living taxes, living healthcare and creating thousands of jobs over that period of time and balancing budgets,” Darrow said. “It’s just so different from the others.”
Darrow reiterated many of the criticisms made in the video and vowed to vote to cut taxes, make the existing tax cuts permanent, support tax incentives for worker retraining, strengthen America’s borders, vote to extend the Patriot Act, increase the size of medical savings accounts, allow small business to engage in health insurance pooling and bring about tort reform.
Darrow said more creative campaign tactics are soon to follow.
“I’ve been in sales and marketing all my life and I know that it going to take a valiant effort to get the attention of the Wisconsin voters,” Darrow said. “It’s always hard to beat an entrenched incumbent.”
See the Darrow movie: http://media.therightruss.com/RussVid/player200-80.html
(Russ Darrow's favorite response when us neighborhood kids in West Bend would tell him something)
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