A Look at the Ads

Republican Senate candidate Bruce Herschensohn has begun airing television ads containing biting attacks on his opponent, Democrat Barbara Boxer. His campaign spokesman says the ads are “selectively targeted,” running in all major markets in California, but the Herschensohn camp won’t say for how long, how often or at what cost.

THE AD: With pictures of newspaper headlines and the Congressional Report as the backdrop, an announcer says, “Meet 10-year incumbent Congresswoman Boxer. She skips one out of every three days, after voting herself a 40% pay raise and a million-dollar pension. She bounced 143 checks, then voted to hide it. Boxer wants to double the deficit, and billed taxpayers for airport limousine rides.”

Herschensohn appears and speaks directly to the camera: “I’m Bruce Herschensohn. I’ll show up for work every day and fight to repeal that pay raise. One more thing: I can drive myself to the airport.”

The announcer’s voice then returns with Herschensohn’s campaign slogan: “Fight back with Herschensohn for U.S. Senate.”

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ANALYSIS: The ad is one of two released this week in which Herschensohn directly attacks his opponent, despite a pledge early in the campaign that he would not raise issues such as Boxer’s bad checks.

Most of the charges are not disputed, although Boxer’s campaign says some are distorted or can be explained.

Boxer says her voting record was 91% before she ran for Senate, but fell to 69% this year because of her need to campaign in California. She voted for the pay raise, she says, because the same bill banned honorariums. Boxer disputes the size of her pension, citing a statement by the office of the sergeant at arms that said she would have to retire in 1993 and live to the age of 128 before she could collect that amount.

As for the assertion that Boxer wants to double the deficit, Herschensohn’s staff said this was based on a report by the National Taxpayers Union, which determined that the total of all the bills she supported would cost taxpayers $404 billion, which would have doubled the federal deficit for last year. Boxer says the study fails to consider votes she made to cut spending. Boxer adds she would reduce the deficit by cutting wasteful military spending and calling on European and Asian allies to pay for their own defense.

Boxer says she is chauffeured to and from the airport, not in a limousine but in a sedan that costs about what a taxi would cost.