Aggressive TV Ads Enrage Colorado GOP

In a political season in which civility has been scarce, Colorado Families First has released two television commercials that opponents say reach a whole new level of mean.

In one spot, an actress portraying Republican Rep. Marilyn Musgrave creeps up to a dead man in a coffin, looks around, slips off his wristwatch and drops it into her handbag.

In another, the same woman -- clad in a pink dress and heels, climbs over the burning wreckage of a jeep amid wild gunfire and picks the pocket of a soldier in combat.

Mocking voice-overs accuse the Colorado lawmaker of voting to let nursing homes bill patients “even after they’re dead” and of being “cheap” by refusing to support a bonus for soldiers in Iraq.

“Who exactly is Marilyn Musgrave representing in Washington anyway?” the ads ask.

Local Republicans are outraged.

“This is a new low in gutter politics,” said Ted Halaby, head of the Colorado GOP. “I haven’t seen anything worse.”

Halaby said the ad campaign highlighted the problem with so-called 527 groups, such as Moveon.org and Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, that can spend millions on political ads but are not officially connected to a candidate.

“They can go out and say whatever they want without any control or responsibility to anyone,” Halaby said. “I think these ads will be effective only in the backlash they bring.”

Colorado’s two biggest newspapers have condemned the commercials, which began airing last week. The Denver Post called them “sophomoric political theater” that showed how “distressingly sleazy” politics had become. And the Rocky Mountain News asked: “With enemies like Colorado Families First, who needs friends?”

Musgrave’s Democratic opponent, Stan Matsunaka -- who lost to Musgrave in 2002 -- denied any connection to the ads.

“Stan is not involved in any way,” said Ed Graham, the candidate’s spokesman. “I have not seen the commercials, but I understand they are very funny.”

The sponsors are unrepentant. “We wanted to represent Musgrave in a satirical, attention-getting way,” said Tim Knaus, former head of the Colorado Democratic Party and spokesman for Colorado Families First. “I don’t think it’s too tough or tacky. That [criticism] is coming from Republicans, who are used to dishing it out and now can’t take it.”

The ads, which together cost about $30,000 to produce and $300,000 so far to broadcast statewide, were financed by millionaires Jared Polis, chairman of the state board of education; Tim Gill, an entrepreneur and gay activist; and Pat Stryker, a philanthropist from Fort Collins.

Colorado Families First, which was formed this summer, describes itself as an association of families interested in healthcare, education, senior citizens issues, the environment and transportation.

But some Republicans say its real agenda is ousting Musgrave for her sponsorship of a federal constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. On Thursday, the House rejected the ban 227 to 186, short of the two-thirds needed for approval.

“It’s all about gay marriage,” said Musgrave’s spokesman, Guy Short. The congresswoman is running for a second term in a largely conservative district that spreads across northeast Colorado.

The biggest problem with the ads, Short said, was their inaccuracy.

Musgrave did vote against a $1,500 bonus for the troops, but supported a $2,700 overall raise in their salaries, he said.

“We have had folks coming into our office dropping off campaign checks because of the ads,” Short said. “Some Democrats have told us they are switching their votes. These ads are a Hail Mary pass from our opponent, who has no effective campaign of his own -- and they are backfiring.”

Negative ads work only if they are believable, political analyst Eric Sonderman said.

“These defy credibility, they are over the top,” he said. “They are not technically connected to Matsunaka, but most voters don’t make that distinction.”

Knaus said Colorado Families First had more television and radio ads in the works. The group also will get involved in other state races, he said.

“Last Thursday, I was getting 10 e-mails every three or four hours, and they were very negative,” he said. “Now the trend has turned. I get two positive for every negative.... The media in Denver has not written about Musgrave’s voting record, so we have chosen to do commercials that would get the strongest reaction in the community.”

Asked whether the ads crossed the line, Knaus thought for a second.

“I ran them all by my 12-year-old daughter,” he said. “And she thought they were fine.”