http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/aponline/20001027/aponline115918_000.htmGOP Group To Air Pro-Nader TV Ads
By Laura Meckler
Associated Press Writer
Friday, Oct. 27, 2000; 11:59 a.m. EDT
WASHINGTON –– Hoping to boost Ralph Nader in states where he is threatening to hurt Al Gore, a Republican group is launching TV ads featuring Nader attacking the vice president.
The ads by the Republican Leadership Council will begin airing Monday in Wisconsin, Oregon and Washington, all states that are part of Gore's base and where Nader is polling well. The group plans to spend more than $100,000 at first and hopes to raise more over the weekend.
While the ads boost Nader, they are a clear attempt to help Bush.
Gore's supporters fear that Nader, who is more liberal than either Bush or Gore, will throw the election to the Texas governor if voters who might otherwise vote for Gore vote for Nader instead. In a tight national race, one or two states could make the difference in who is elected president.
The ads feature clips of Nader from a National Press Club speech on Tuesday, where he laid into both Bush and Gore, though the ad only includes his criticism of Gore.
BUSH BACKERS BUY ADS FOR NADER IN SWING STATES
Ralph Nader's goal to get George W. Bush elected got a push from a pro-Bush committee yesterday, the Republican Leadership Council. According to a 10/27/00 AP story, the RLC has made an ad consisting of footageof Nader attacking Gore and is buying $10,000 worth of ad time to be used to keep the Bush lead in Oregon and to move Bush ahead in Washington and Wisconsin, two states that are up for grabs. The ads will begin Monday. "Advertising experts say they can't recall another time when a major party organization has run ads helpful to a minor party candidate." The RLC hopes to make similar ad buys for Nader in Minnesota, Michigan, and Maine, three other states that Bush hopes to win with Nader's help. This new Republican strategy to elect Bush by backing Nader is believed to be a winning idea, according to the AP: "In this extraordinarily tight national race, one or two states could make the difference in who is elected."
The AP also noted that the RLC ad buy for Nader comes at a very good time for the Green Party candidate, since he doesn't have the money to afford the cost of the ad campaign the Republicans are launching for him: "Nader, running a low-budget campaign, is not currently airing any television commercials of his own and it's possible that the RLC will end up spending more on pro-Nader media than Nader himself." The AP reports that "The Gore campaign labeled the ads deceptive. Vice presidential candidate Joe Lieberman said he was confident the public won't be fooled. 'For Republicans to be putting Ralph Nader on television in a paid ad, certainly might lead your average observer to be cyncial,' he said." According to Mark Miller, the executive director of the Republican Leadership Council, "the ads are partly a response to commercials being run
by the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League." The AP reports that when asked about the ads Nader said that outside groups have the right to run them. Nader's lukewarm response to news of the ads is seen by some as giving further credence to the charge that a vote for Nader is a vote for Bush. --Politex, 10/28/00
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