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The Forsyth County News
Opinion
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Repubs rushed through
defense funds to take
issue away from Kerry
WASHINGTON When
Republicans March 10 rushed
through a $6.9 billion restora
tion of defense funds request
ed by President Bush, they
were forestalling a suspected
effort by Sen. John Kerry to
polish his national security
record by seeking extra money
for the military.
Republican Sen John
Warner, the Senate Armed
Services Committee chairman,
proposed to restore the cuts
made by the Budget Committ
ee in Bush's $421 billion
Defense Department budget.
His proposal carried by a 95 to
4 vote.
Republican strategists had
feared Kerry would push for
more military funding to
counter Bush campaign high
lighting of the prospective
Democratic presidential nomi
nees voting record. Kerry has
voted for major defense cuts
at least seven times dating
back to 1989. The most recent
such vote was cast on Sept.
25. 2001, exactly two weeks
after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Kerry’s coup
Sen John Kerry’s disclo
"sure of President Bush's long
awaited choice of a manufac
turing czar shocked and
angered officials in the White
House, including George W.
Bush himself.
Secretary of Commerce
Donald Evans was supposed
to announce the nomination of
Nebraska industrialist Anthon
y F. Raimondo to the new post
of assistant secretary for man
ufacturing. But Kerry beat
Evans to the punch by not
only disclosing Raimondo's
name but also revealing that
he had opened a factory in
China. Raimondo withdrew
his name from consideration
March 11.
The president and his sen
ior staff were described as
apoplectic. Republican insid
ers were less impressed by the
Kerry campaign team some
how learning about Raimondo
than by its rapid distribution
of details about his China con
nection.
Hoffa’s choice
James P. Hoffa was
brought "kicking and scream
ing" to his presidential
On your payroll
CITY COUNCIL
Mayor, H. Ford Gravitt
PO. Box 3177, Cumming, GA 30028: (770) 8874342
Mayor Pro-Tern, Lewis Ledbetter
205 Mountain Brook Dr., Cumming, GA 30040; (770) 887-3019
Ralph Perry
1420 Pilgrim Rd., Cumming, GA 30040; (770) 887-7474
Quincy Holton
103 Hickory Ridge Dr., Cumming, GA 30040; (770) 887-5279
Rupert Sexton
705 Pine Lake Dr., Cumming, GA 30040; (770) 887-4332
John Pugh
10813th St.. Cumming, GA 30040; (770) 887-3342
COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
Charles Laughinghouse, Post 1
3550 Rosewrcke Dr., Cumming, GA 30040
(770) 886-7937; office, (770) 886-2010 •
David‘A J. ” Pritchett Post 2
4840 Chesterfield Court, Suwanee, GA 30024
(404) 392-6983; office. (770) 886-2809
John A. “Jack" Conway, Post 3
6130 Polo Club Dr., Cumming, GA 30040
(770) 886-9226; (770) 886-2807
Marcie Kreager, Post 4
Kings Rd., Gainesville, GA 30506
office. (770) 886-2806
Eddie Taylor, Post 5
4195 Morningside Dr., Cumming, GA 30041
(770)886-2802
Robert YY
endorsement of Sen. John
Kerry and really preferred
Sen. John Edwards, according
to a close associate of the
Teamsters leader.
Hoffa met separately with
Kerry and Edwards after the
union president's first choice
for the nomination, Rep.
Richard Gephardt, dropped
out following his defeat in the
lowa caucuses. Hoffa told
friends that Edwards was
much closer to Gephardt on
international trade issues,
adding that he did not care
that much for Kerry personal
ly.
Gephardt had quickly
endorsed Kerry, and he talked
Hoffa into getting on the win
ner's bandwagon. Gephardt
and Hoffa attended the
University of Michigan Law
School together.
Colorado contest
The National Republican
Senatorial Committee,
shocked by the unexpected
announcement by Sen. Ben
Nighthorse Campbell that he
would not seek re-election this
year, got another unpleasant
surprise recently. Gov. Bill
Owens telephoned to say he
would not run for the Senate.
Owens, elected to a second
term as governor in 2002.
would have been a strong
favorite to replace Campbell.
Instead, he endorsed his close
political associate, freshman
Rep. Bob Beauprez. who
would face a crowded Repub
lican primary. In contrast.
Democrats have united behind
State Attorney General Ken
Salazar. What seemed a safe
Republican Senate seat is now
a contested one.
Owens, who has his eye on
the Republican presidential
nomination in 2008, may have
noted the poor track record for
Republican senators going
directly into the White House.
The last to make it was Sen.
Warren Hardine of Ohio in
1920.
Robert Novak is a nation
ally syndicated columnist and
a television commentator.
z
YoUtON
I NO. MW.
\
Why didn’t Bush team foresee ad reaction?
WASHINGTON, D C.
How come smart people do
dumb things'.’ No. don't ask
Martha Stewart. Ask the
geniuses over at the White
House, who have created two
TV commercials that rank
right up there with New Coke
and the Susan B. Anthony dol
lar as expensive and avoidable
failures.
Two of George W. Bush's
new re-election commercials
feature images from Sept. 11,
2001, including World Trade
Center w reckage and firefight
ers carrying a flag-draped cof
fin.
Some people, including
some families of the victims
of Sept. 11. are horrified by
the use of these images for
political purposes. Other peo
ple. including some families
of the victims of Sept. I 1.
think using the images is just
fine.
Which has led to a nice
discussion of the controversy
day after day after day.
Which is the problem for
Bush: These ads were not sup
posed to create controversy.
They were supposed to make
you feel good about President
Bush. They were supposed to
be warm and fuzzy commer
cials that created feelings of
gratitude and confidence.
The ads there are three
of them reportedly being
shown in 18 states at a cost of
at least $10.5 million are
not issue ads. The best one
(the only good one. actually)
is titled "Lead" and features
NATIONAL LEGISLATORS
f< U.S. Sen. Zell Miller
Russell Senate Office Building, Room 03
Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-3643: Fax: (202) 228-2090 — ——
U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss >
1019 Longworth House Office Building ■ I
Washington, D.C. 20515 B ' fi
(202) 224-3521
< U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal, 10th District
2437 Raybum House Office Building,
| Washington, D.C. 20515
’ ■ ■ Gainesville; PO. Box 1015. Gainesville, GA 30503
1 , Z jfl Gainesville, (770) 535-2592; Washington: (202) 225-
5211; Fax: (202) 225-8272
U.S. Rep. John Linder, 7th District >
1727 Longworth House Office Building,
Washington. D.C. 20515-1011 I .
Washington: (202) 225-4272; Fax: (202) 225-4696 | I
STATE LEGISLATORS ]
■ < Sen. David Shafer, 48th District
109 State Capitol
V! Atlanta, GA 30334
• . ' (404)651-7738
3 Sen. Casey Cagle, 49th District >
421 State Capitol, Atlanta, GA 30334 l| . J
0 Telephone: (404) 656-6578; Fax: (404) f
651-6768 ji '
< Sen. Dan Moody, 27th District
(770) 495-3127;
Office (404) 463-8055
Roger
George Bush saying. "I know
exactly where I want to lead
this country." The president
and Mrs Bush sit together at
the White House, and there are
also images of a teacher in a
classroom, men in hard hats, a
family at a dinner table, etc.
The second ad, officially
titled, "Safer, Stronger,"
should be titled. "Dumb.
Dumber," for the people who
dreamed it up. This ad
includes the World Trade
Center wreckage and the fire
fighters with that coffin. The
third ad. "Tested," shows a
variety of images, including
Sept. 11 wreckage.
rhe anger over the second
and third ads was immediate,
and the defense followed a
day or two later.
But according to a recent
poll by the University of
Pennsylvania's National
Annenberg Election Survey.
"A majority of the American
public considers it inappropri
ate for President Bush's re
election campaign to use
images from the September
1 I. 2001. terrorist attacks in
its television commercials."
It is not a huge majority
around 55 percent but these
were not wedge issue ads
designed to divide people and
FORBYTH COUNTY NEWS - Thurxtay, March 18,2004 I
Amsh
WW,
LYINQ IS
ILLEGAL? iswatkick
QUESTION?
/ 'Xi
turn out a partisan base vote.
These ads were supposed to
unite people and create a nice
feeling about President Bush.
Ads create feelings all the
time. Remember that Pepsi ad
of some years ago with that
little boy surrounded by pup
pies, who were frolicking
around him and licking his
lace? The message was not:
"Drink Pepsi and dogs will
lick your face.” The message
was: "Feel good about Pepsi.”
(That ad ran in 1976. by the
way, and people still remem
ber it.)
So why didn't anyone at
the White House realize that
using Sept. 11 imagery would
lead to controversy, discor
dance and bad publicity? Well,
we don't know for sure.
Maybe they have started to
believe they really are genius
es instead of just ordinary
political operatives capable of
making good and bad deci
sions.
A focus group or two
might have helped them. This
is the proper use of focus
groups. (The improper use is
when the media use focus
groups to substitute for polls,
even though they are very dif
ferent things.)
You sit a group of people
down in a room, you show the
people the ads. and you
encourage them to talk.
If the White House had
actually done that before
releasing the ads, I cannot
believe somebody in some
group wouldn't have piped up
Sen. Renee Unterman, 45th District >
(770)466-1507;
Office (404) 463-1368 F
< Rep. Tom Knox, 14th District
Legislative Office Building, Room 504 Mt
- • 18 Capitol Square, Atlanta, GA 30334
k (404) 656-0188. or (770) 887-0400, law office
Rep. Jan Jones, 38th District >
412 Legislative Office Building,
Atlanta GA 30334 *W.
(404)656-0137 > ' r U
* ReP-J® o ** Murphy, 14th District
Legislative office Building,
• J, Room 612, Atlanta GA 30334
j, l (404) 656-0325; (770) 781-9319, home
BOARD OF EDUCATION
Ann Crow
96 Barker Rd., Cumming, GA 30040
(770) 887-9640; acrow@forsyth.kl2.ga.us
Paul Kreager
9810 Kings Rd., Gainesville, GA 30506
(770) 889-9971; pkreager@forsyth.kl2.ga.us
Nancy Roche
7840 Chestnut Hill Rd., Cumming, GA 30041
(770) 889-0229; nroche@forsyth.kl2.ga.us
Rebecca K. Dowell
2030 Commonwealth Place, Cumming, GA 30041
(770) 844-0830; rdowell@forsyth.kl2.gaus
Chairman Jeffrey Stephens
PO. Box 169, Cumming, GA 30028
(770) 889-1470; jstephens@forsyth.kl2.ga.us
and said: "Hey, you can't use
the victims of Sept. I I in a
political ad! That's wrong!
People will be really upset
with you!"
Let me say right here that I
believe the effect of political
ads is overrated.
Campaigns are obsessed
with ads for two reasons: Ads
are totally controllable. Unlike
speeches, town halls, press
conferences and debates
where (he candidate can screw
up and say something un
scripted. every frame of a TV
commercial can be shaped and
reviewed until it is perfect. (Or
until the ad makers think it is
perfect.)
The second reason cam
paigns are obsessed with ads
is even less appetizing:
Campaign operatives often get
a percentage of the TV ad buy.
so naturally they love ads.
As far as real voters are
concerned, however, they
switch the channel as soon as
the ads come on. they hit the
mute button or they instantly
forget the ads as soon as they
have seen them
Unless a campaign creates
a really, really memorable ad.
that is. One that creates con
troversy. Like the Bush cam
paign has just done.
In that case, people'
remember those ads for a
long, long time and for all
the wrong reasons.
Roger Simon is a national
ly syndicated columnist. He
can be e-mailed at Write-
Roger@aol.com.
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