Democrats’ TV Spot Portends Costliest Ad War in Politics

Democratic Party leaders unveiled a television commercial Wednesday that aims to bolster Al Gore’s support among senior citizens, the opening gambit in what is expected to be the most expensive U.S. political air war ever.

The 30-second spot, which features a senior citizen who can’t afford his drug prescriptions, claims Gore is taking on “big drug companies” that the vice president says are charging “ridiculously high prices.”

The ad, while not specifically urging a vote for Gore, spotlights what Democrats believe will be a popular position among voters. The campaign for his Republican rival, Texas Gov. George W. Bush, countered that the ads spotlight not Gore’s virtues but his hypocrisy.

Gore has said he wants to expand the list of health benefits paid for by Medicare to include prescriptions for the elderly. Bush says prescription coverage would be possible only after an overhaul of Medicare that would turn over administration of the program to private insurers and managed-care companies.

The ad, paid for in part by the Democratic National Committee with loosely regulated “soft-money” donations, also opens the long-anticipated torrent of party-funded political advertising that aims to sway swing voters and mobilize party loyalists.

Soft-money donations are supposed to be used for “party-building” activities but under a legal loophole can be used for “issue advocacy.” As the parties read the law, that means soft money can be used for political commercials so long as the ads don’t explicitly tell viewers to vote for or against a particular candidate.

Releasing the spot Wednesday, Democratic Party Chairman Joe Andrew noted: “Of course it helps Al Gore. Al Gore is the leader of our party, and a party-building ad should help the leader of our party.”

The ad, which Andrew said was produced in consultation with Gore campaign chairman Tony Coelho and campaign manager Donna Brazile, does not mention the Democratic Party.

Andrew said the spot would be the first in a multimillion-dollar summer ad campaign leading up to the DNC’s convention in Los Angeles in August. In 1996, the two parties spent a combined $68 million or so on television advertising by the time their conventions rolled around, a figure they are expected to easily surpass this year.

GOP officials are planning their own ad blitz, and their buyers have made inquiries about purchasing air time for the next few days. But even before hitting the airwaves, Republicans on Wednesday accused Gore of hypocrisy, noting that he had challenged Bush to swear off soft-money ads. Bush didn’t accept the deal, but the Republican National Committee hasn’t aired any such ads yet.

Senior Bush advisors view the ad as a backhanded admission by Gore that he has failed to consolidate the Democratic base. They noted the message in the ad is aimed primarily at seniors--once, but not recently, a reliably Democratic constituency--and is running almost entirely in states Clinton won in 1996. In many of those states this year, Gore is trailing or running no better than even.

After clinching the party’s nomination in March, Gore sent Bush an e-mail saying he had asked the DNC not to use soft-money donations to buy ads unless the RNC or other Bush supporters did first. Traveling with reporters this week, however, Gore said the deal was off because independent GOP-allied groups had aired spots attacking him.

GOP officials say Gore’s offer was disingenuous from the start.

Gore “promised not to run soft-money ads when he thought it would give him an advantage; now that he’s losing in the polls, he’s willing to break his commitment,” said Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer.

In the DNC ad, 74-year-old cancer survivor Bob Darthez is seen gazing out a window as a narrator says Darthez “worked a lifetime, but now he’s at the mercy of the big drug companies.” As images of the Capitol and money changing hands flash on the screen, the narrator says, “They’re using money and lobbyists to stop progress in Washington. Al Gore is taking them on. Fighting for a Medicare prescription drug benefit for seniors like Bob Darthez.”

Gore then says: “People can’t afford these ridiculously high prices for prescription medicines. . . . When their doctor prescribes medicine for their health and well being, they ought to be able to take it.”

Democratic media consultant Robert Shrum, who is crafting ads for both the DNC and the Gore campaign, said the party started its ad blitz with the prescription issue because it’s a “powerful” one for Gore, as demonstrated in the primaries when he cemented his lead over Bill Bradley in part by attacking the former New Jersey senator’s health plan.

Democrats are also contemplating ads that would highlight the economic expansion under the Clinton administration, tout Gore’s position on Social Security reform and recount Gore’s years as a soldier in Vietnam and as a newspaper reporter in Nashville.

The scope of the DNC’s initial air-time buy, estimated at $1.9 million, offers a clue to how the party’s prospects have shifted in the last four years. DNC officials plan to run the new spot at least through Sunday in 15 states, including the Midwest swing states of Michigan, Ohio, Illinois and Missouri.