Thursday, September 28, 2006

See a pattern here? Here's Anne's campaign strategy from 2002

Descriptions and analysis of Anne Northup's ads from 2002. It's clear that she has one mode, attack the other guy. Does she have such low self esteem that she can't campaign on her own merits?

WATCHING THE CAMPAIGNS
Courier-Journal, The (Louisville, KY)
October 18, 2002
Author: Al CrossSTAFF
Estimated printed pages: 3

Analysis by Al Cross

The Courier-Journal

Candidate:Anne Northup,Republican

Election:3rd Congressional District,Nov.5

Producer:McCarthy,Marcus &Hennings

SCRIPT:

Narrator:If you ran the state budget and had a surplus,would you use the money to start a prescription program for Kentucky seniors,or build more golf courses?Jack Conway was a top aide to Governor Patton for six years. Patton and Conway chose (pause)more golf courses.Thirty-one states chose to start prescription programs for seniors.But under Patton and Conway,Kentucky spent $25 million of the surplus for golf courses,zero for a prescription program. The priorities of Jack Conway.Conway lookalike:Yeah!

VIDEO:

Black and white shots of state Capitol dome and elderly woman with medicine.Type on screen:``Prescription program?'' then ``More golf courses?'' Color shots of golfers,,Patton and Conway with arms around each other 's shoulders at a Conway event,a golf cart heading down a fairway at sunset,a golf ball rolling into the hole,and a Conway lookalike celebrating his putt.U.S.map is labeled ``31 states start prescription programs.'' Conway lookalike swings a golf club and celebrates his drive as ``$25 Million for Golf Courses ''is superimposed. Map reappears with Kentucky highlighted and ``0 for prescription programs '' label..Conway lookalike makes and celebrates a putt as ``The Priorities of Jack Conway ''appears on screen.

ANALYSIS:

This is the second ad in which Northup has blamed her Democratic challenger for the lack of a state prescription-drug benefit,a major issue at the federal level.(The Republican Party paid for the first adNorthup 's campaign is paying for this one.)While viewers may find this ad more engaging because it has a humorous bent and uses a Conway lookalike and sprightly background music,it is just as misleading as the first one,and less accurate. Contrary to the ads ' assertions,,Conway was in no position as an aide to Patton to choose whether to establish a state prescription-drug program.However,he opened himself to these attacks by saying that he helped oversee the state budget,which could imply that he played a role in writing the budget.There is no evidence of that,and Patton said in an interview this week that Conway played no such role.

It is inaccurate to say that the state spent $25 million of its 1998 surplus for golf courses, and highly misleading to suggest that the spending was an alternative to a prescription-drug program.The budget passed that year authorized $25 million in bonds,or official borrowing, for golf courses.The annual debt service for those bonds is about $2.3 million,an infinitesimal part of the overall two-year budget of $30 billion.The first-year cost of a state prescription- drug benefit proposed this year would have been about $25 million,about 11 times as much as the annual debt service for the golf courses. This ad also misleads by indicating that 31 states had started prescription programs when the state had a big surplus.By the end of 1998,no more than 14 states had started such programs.The figure of 31 is for 2000. Budget issues aside,this ad 's other aim is to more closely associate Conway with Patton, whose image and name evoke negative reactions among many voters because he is facing sex-for-favors allegations,which he has denied.Conway has not been tied to the scandal, so this ad borders on guilt by association,just as the last one did.

--Analysis by Al Cross,The Courier-Journal

BY DEVON MORGAN,THE COURIER-JOURNAL
Edition: MET;METRO
Section: FORUM
Page: 11A

Index Terms: ES ELECTION STORY; AN ANALYSIS; Q QUOTE; POLITICS; ELECTION; CAMPAIGN; ANNE NORTHUP
Dateline: KENTUCKY, USA;UNITED STATES
Copyright (c) The Courier-Journal. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of Gannett Co., Inc. by NewsBank, inc.
Record Number: lou2002101810080895


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