Party’s New Ad Focuses on Gore’s Story

Democratic Party officials today plan to start airing a television commercial highlighting Al Gore’s personal story, part of a strategy to portray the vice president as a man of conviction as he marches toward his party’s August convention.

The 30-second spot will air through Sunday across the 17-state battlefield where the two major political parties are running ads.

Timed for Father’s Day, the ad is a montage of video footage and photos showing Gore as a boy with his father, then as a soldier in uniform, then with his wife and children.

Orchestral music plays and a quote from Gore floats in segments as the images shift: “Don’t ever doubt the impact that fathers have on children. . . . Children with strong fathers learn trust . . . that they’re wanted, they have value. . . . Boys learn from their fathers . . . how to be fathers. I know I did.”

The ad outlines Gore’s policy agenda in brief phrases, as text on the screen says the vice president will “promote responsible fatherhood,” “extend family and medical leave” and “end the marriage penalty for working families.” It closes with the words “Happy Father’s Day” over video of Gore walking with his wife, Tipper.

Gore supports extending to smaller businesses the Family and Medical Leave Act, which lets workers take unpaid time off from their job. He also wants to eliminate the so-called marriage penalty, in which many married couples pay more taxes than they would as single people--a move presumptive Republican nominee George W. Bush also supports.

The party-funded spot is similar to one Gore’s media consultants aired over Thanksgiving and featured footage of him with his family. Two of Gore’s top consultants, Bob Shrum and Bill Knapp, are also working for the DNC.

Gore’s strategists believe voters will find his personal biography compelling and are seeking to show that he shared many formative experiences familiar to most Americans.

But the biographical emphasis of the DNC spot is unusual for party-purchased advertising. Under a legal loophole, the parties are permitted to fund ads for “party-building,” which they interpret to include advocacy on policy issues.

Rarely have the parties tried to air spots that play up a candidate’s personal life. In the wake of the 1996 campaign, the DNC accused the Republican Party of violating the law by airing a spot focusing on Bob Dole’s upbringing in Russell, Kan., without any policy discussion. But the Federal Election Commission dismissed that complaint three months ago without taking action.

“This advertisement is meant to show the Democratic Party’s commitment to strengthening families,” said DNC spokeswoman Jenny Backus. “It’s a perfectly appropriate and legal ad.”

Also Thursday, the Republican Party said it would start airing in New Mexico a Spanish-language version of its first ad, which trumpets Bush’s plan to let people divert some of their Social Security payroll tax money into the stock market. The ad seeks to deflect Democrats’ warnings that the plan would result in cuts in benefits and jeopardize retirement for people who invest poorly.