AL GORE: Dems’ Soft Money Ad Blitz May Break Gore Promise
The Democratic Party plans to launch a 10-week, $25 million television advertising blitz this week to "redefine" Vice President Al Gore and highlight his successes over the past seven years, the New York Times reports. Democratic officials will unveil the first commercials, which focus on health care, today at a Washington news conference. Soft money contributions will help fund the 15-state ad campaign, violating Gore's proposal to ban the use of soft money in his campaign. "You think [Gore] was serious about saying that [Democrats] are not going to spend soft money," Texas Gov. George W. Bush (R) asked at a news conference, adding that Gore "is a guy that said he's for campaign finance reform in hopes that we forget that he went to a Buddhist temple to raise money." According to Edward Rendell, general chair of the Democratic National Committee, Gore's proposal to ban soft money was "moot" because Bush rejected the plan. "The only time a challenge becomes binding is when the other side accepts the challenge," he said (Marks, 6/7). In a recent "Good Morning America" interview on ABC, Gore agreed, arguing that the Bush campaign "never accepted [his] offer" and began airing ads "months ago" (Meckler, AP/Philadelphia Inquirer, 6/7). Democrats argue that Republicans initiated their soft money campaign first, pointing to the 527 committees that are running ads against Al Gore. One commercial sponsored by the Shape the Debate group, parodies the game show "Jeopardy" with "Hypocrisy," where every answer is "Who is Al Gore?" The Bush campaign contends, however, that it had no involvement with the anti-Gore ads (Kennedy, New York Daily News, 6/7).
This is part of the California Healthline Daily Edition, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.