Lazio Rolls Out N.Y. Governor

A Pitch To New York's Moderate Voters

(CBS)  The CBS News Political Unit is tracking the latest campaign commercials. Francesca Gessner analyzes a new ad from Congressman Rick Lazio featuring New York's Republican Gov. George Pataki.

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The Ad:
New York Republican Senate candidate Congressman Rick Lazio has released a new TV ad featuring the state’s GOP Gov. George Pataki. The 30-second ad, titled Pataki, shows the governor praising Lazio’s eight years of work as a congressman, saying “Rick Lazio delivered” for New York and “you can trust him to work for you.” The ad specifically highlights Lazio’s commitment to children’s health insurance, the environment and tax cuts for working families.

Audio: Pataki: “For eight years, Congressman Rick Lazio has fought and delivered for New York. Today, more than a half million New York children have comprehensive health insurance because Rick Lazio delivered. He's fought hard to clean up New York's air and water and Long Island Sound. Rick's economic plan will cut taxes on working families, creating good jobs in every corner of New York state. We need Rick Lazio and his experience working for New York in the Senate. You can trust him to work for you."

Visual: The ad features Gov. Pataki talking to the camera, then cuts to shots of Lazio and Pataki working together. It closes with images of Lazio and his family walking on the beach.

Fact check: The degree to which Lazio’s tax plan helps working families is open to interpretation. His economic proposals include eliminating the estate tax and cutting the capital gains tax – tax cuts that arguably offer the greatest benefits to businesses and the wealthy. However, Lazio’s plan also calls for eliminating the marriage penalty, expanding education savings accounts, and tax credits for college tuition – all tax cuts that can help working families.

The Strategy: Gov. George Pataki, who beat well-known incumbent Democrat Mario Cuomo in 1994, is known as a moderate Republican and is highly popular with suburban and upstate New York voters. Pataki’s presence in the ad allows Lazio to appeal to voters in key parts of the state while presenting himself as an experienced moderate lawmaker. The ad’s emphasis on Lazio’s “eight years” in Congress and his “experience working for New York” draws an implicit contrast with Hillary Clinton, who has never held elected office and is not from New York.

Moreover, Lazio’s experience is presented as reason to trust him. Pataki’s line, “You can trust him to work for New York,” echoes the trustworthiness theme exemplified in many of Lazio’s recent ads by the tag line: “Hillary Clinton. You just can’t trust her.” Finally, the commercial’s emphasis on centrist issues such as healh care, the environment and tax cuts for working families aims to appeal to a broad spectrum of voters and further promote Lazio as a moderate.