New Clinton Ad Takes Aim at Harkin, Kerrey

Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton plans to begin airing a new advertisement in New Hampshire today, one with a message aimed pointedly at two of his leading rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination.

The ad will tout Clinton’s support for a tax cut for the middle class and repeat his campaign stump criticism calling the 1980s an era when middle-class incomes dropped while taxes rose and members of Congress took “midnight pay raises.”

Two of Clinton’s leading rivals, Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin and Nebraska Sen. Bob Kerrey, both took the pay raise. Harkin opposes the idea of a middle-class tax cut.

Clinton campaign officials confirmed plans to air the new ad, but did not screen it in advance for members of the media as they had done last week with Clinton’s first ad, in which he touts his economic recovery plan. By not screening the ad in advance or providing texts, the campaign reduces the opportunity for other campaigns, or the press, to challenge its assertions.