Clinton Spots Aggressive, Misleading

Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton’s campaign has produced two new television and three new radio ads for the New York primary Tuesday in what aides are calling an aggressive strategy of attacking former California Gov. Edmund G. (Jerry) Brown Jr.:

AD 1: Over a picture of Brown, a narrator says: “You have to wonder about Jerry Brown. First he didn’t tell the truth about his tax plan--it will triple taxes on the poor and raise taxes on the middle class. . . . Now Brown’s not telling the truth about his own record. CNN found his ad claim just plain wrong. He raised taxes in California and left the state with a huge deficit. And he’s not telling the truth about Bill Clinton’s civil rights record--an outstanding record of fighting against bigotry and hatred of any kind. Now you know the truth. And the truth is, we just can’t believe Jerry Brown.”

ANALYSIS: The ad violates a principle Clinton set for himself: to attack opponents only on their record, never personally. It also is misleading. The ad states as a fact statistics about what will happen under Brown’s flat-tax plan and cites them as proof that Brown is not telling the truth about the plan’s impact. But the statistics are only estimates, which come from a tax advocacy group once headed by Clinton’s own campaign manager.

AD 2: “Looking for a different candidate for President?” a narrator begins, with text on the screen repeating the audio. “Someone who actually has a serious plan to move this country forward and put people first?” Then a picture of Clinton’s book, “A Plan for America’s Future,” appears on the screen, its pages turning to match the narrator’s voice: “Like ending tax breaks for corporations that move our jobs overseas. . . . Sweeping education reform and high standards, job training, affordable health care, moving people from welfare to work. It’s about a real commitment to healing racial divisions, uniting this country to compete and win again. That’s the plan of a different candidate. His name? Bill Clinton. Yes, the real Bill Clinton.”

ANALYSIS: Clinton’s plan does contain these proposals, and he has been running on this platform since last year. But his health care plan is a general proposal. Brown also has a general plan. Nor can Clinton claim some special commitment over Brown to such matters as working for the middle class or healing racial divisions.

RADIO AD: Clinton also produced an ad quoting Brown as saying he is “against abortion.” That is misleading. While Brown has long maintained he is opposed to abortion personally, he has consistently maintained that as a matter of public policy women have the right to choose for themselves.