Gore's Triple Threat
The CBS News Political Unit is tracking the latest campaign commercials. Steve Chaggaris analyzes a three new campaign ads from Al Gore's campaign.
The Ads:
size>color> The Gore campaign has released three new 30-second ads: Trickle, which contrasts the Gore and Bush tax cut proposals; Training, which highlights Gore’s plan to make paying college tuition easier; and a third, Book, is a rebuttal to a Republican National Committee ad attacking Gore’s prescription drug plan.
Trickle, is airing in 15 states: Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin. Training, is airing in all of the aforementioned states except Florida and Maine. And Book, only airs in Florida, Tennessee and Nevada.
Audio:size>color>
Trickle: Announcer: The facts on George W. Bush's $1.6 trillion tax cut promise: Almost half goes to the richest one percent. What trickles down? An average of 62 cents a day for most taxpayers. Bush gives almost half to the richest one percent, leaving 62 cents to trickle down to us.
Al Gore builds on a foundation of fiscal discipline. Pay down the nation's debt. Protect Social Security and Medicare. A $10,000 a year tax deduction for college tuition. Because the middle class has earned more than trickle down.
Training: Announcer: Big corporations get a tax write off for education or training for their high-paid executives. But for hard-working, middle-class families,
you don't get enough help to afford your kids' college tuition.
Al Gore understands middle-class families need help. $10,000 of college tuition tax deductible every year to help middle-class families send their kids to college.
Gore: "We need help for middle-class families to pay college tuition by making it tax deductible. I'm for a lifelong commitment to education."
Book: Announcer: The truth about prescription drugs isn't in this notebook. It's in your checkbook. Bush relies on insurance companies. They now charge $90 a month.
Under Gore, $25 a month through Medicare. Under Bush, millions of middle-class seniors not covered. Under Gore, coverage available to all seniors under Medicare. Seniors choose their own doctor. Medigap still available.
Under Bush, seniors forced into HMOs and insurance companies. Medicare premiums could rise 47 percent. Get all the facts.
Visual:size>color>
Trickle, begins with a shot of a $100 bill with drops of water slowly dissolving it. After it fully dissolves, two quarters, two nickels and two pennies appear (62 cents). That’s followed by shots of Gore, families, students, seniors and doctors
Training opens with pictures of a business meeting, then shifts to shots of students on a college campus and Gore interacting with students. It ends with Gore and Lieberman speaking to an auditorium full of students.
Book starts with the notebook used in an earlier GOP ad attack ad and replaces it with a new notebook outlining the differences between the Gore and Bush prescription drug plans.
Fact Check:size>color>
Trickle is a bit misleading in pointing out the two extremes of Bush’s tax plan. First, 30 percent of Bush’s plan would go to the richest 1 percent, not “almost half.” Secondly, according to the Citizens for Tax Justice, whose study the ad cites, the “middle class” – the 20 percent of taxpayers making between about $24,000 and $39,000 – would actually wind up saving twice the “62 cents a day.”
Training: No inaccuracies.
Book claims that under Bush’s prescription drug plan seniors would be “forced into HMOs.” In fact, Bush’s plan would allow seniors to either stick with Medicare or exercise the option to join an HMO or private insurer. Additionally, there’s scant evidence to back up the “$90 a month” figure the ad pins on Bush’s plan.
The Strategy:size>color> Now that it’s within a month of the election and the polls show the race between Gore and Bush is neck-and-neck, Gore’s advertising is becoming much more aggressive. For months, Gore – and the Democratic National Committee, for that matter – has tried to take the high road, using positive messages to tout the vice president and his proposals. Now that it’s crunch time, however, and there’s no clear leader, the Gore campaign has shifted to more of an attack mode. As well, by shooting right back, Book is indicative of the fact that Gore won’t take attacks on him lying down.