Politics

Steve Forbes Takes A Hit

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

January 18, 2000 / 10:13 AM EST / CBS

The CBS News Political Unit is tracking the political commercials of the presidential hopefuls. Jane Ruvelson analyzes an ad by a Republican group that attacks GOP presidential hopeful Steve Forbes.

JUST THE FACTSsize=5>

Source: The Republican Leadership Council (RLC). With a stated mission of uniting the Republican Party around mainstream issues, the RLC was formed in 1997 by former GOP Congresswoman Susan Molinari. The board of the organization consists of two dozen Republican moderates, including Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, former Maine Gov. John McKernan, and members of Congress, many of whom have endorsed George W. Bush and raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for his campaign. The RLC, with its ability to run independently funded issue ads, has been seen as a tool to discourage negative advertising, especially by Steve Forbes.

The Ad: Just the Facts is the RLC's second ad addressing Steve Forbes and his advertising tactics. The group is spending $100,000 to run the 30-second television spot in Iowa and New Hampshire. The ad complains about a Forbes commercial that attacks Bush on tax cuts.

Audio: Announcer: "Steve Forbes' attack ad distorts the truth. We're the Republican Leadership Council and our research shows Gov. Bush signed the two largest tax cuts in Texas history. Sadly, Steve Forbes has a history of unfairly attacking fellow Republicans. Forbes attacked Bob Dole - which helped the Democrats. And now he's doing it again. Call Steve Forbes and tell him to join George Bush and John McCain in running a positive campaign on the issues."

Visual: A clip from Steve Forbes' recent Bush Breaks Tax Pledge commercial starts up the RLC's newest spot. "Steve Forbes' attack ad distorts the truth" appears over the image. After a full-screen RLC logo, Bush is pictured in front of an American flag and a newspaper headline that reads, "Bush signed the two largest tax cuts in Texas history." Additional newspaper clips chronicle Forbes' use of negative ads and their impact on the 1996 Dole campaign. The spot concludes with a cropped picture of McCain and Bush shaking hands as they pledged to abstain from running negative ads.

Fact Check: No inaccuracies.

The Strategy: The Forbes campaign has characterized the Republican Leadership Council as a "liberal front group" for the Bush campaign. Just the Facts may not do much to dispel that image, since it does as much to build up Bush as it does to chastise Forbes for negative campaigning. While Just the Facts does mention McCain, it showcases Bush's tax-cutting record and presents him looking downright visionary. Some Republicans blame Forbes for Bob Dole's 1996 defeat and this ad, like the RLC's first anti-Forbes commercial, attempts to remind them of Forbes' earlier adertising assault. Forbes has defended himself saying, "If being negative is telling the truth, I will tell the truth."