Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar

Thursday, Oct 4, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller

* This is the first negative ad by Tammy Duckworth. Rate it…

Thursday, Oct 4, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller

* After initially denying there were any problems with a TV ad attacking Democrat Tammy Duckworth, a Super PAC has decided to pull the ad back and retool it a bit…

Tyler Harber, a spokesman for Now or Never PAC, confirmed that changes are being made to a commercial set to run on Chicago cable and broadcast stations criticizing Duckworth’s tenure as director of the Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs. He described those changes, however, as minor. […]

“We made no substantive or topical changes to the ad,” Harber said in an email. “The ad conveys the same message as before. We were not asked to take out any of the arguments we made in the ad. It is not unusual to make minor adjustments to ads. People who see the first version and the second version will notice virtually no difference whatsoever.” […]

Duckworth’s campaign first became aware of the ad after it received a “tip” from a source at WLS-TV, spokeswoman Kaitlin Fahey said, that the ad did not pass muster from the station’s legal department. Stations often ask for additional documentation when they vet political ads, The campaign then began contacting other area TV stations. Sources at WBBM said the ad was on “hold” until they were told it was being recut.

Other stations did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

The commercials from the $405,000 ad buy are set to air over the next week.

The PAC has already spent $800K building up incumbent Joe Walsh. Subscribers know the results.

The original ad is here.

* Meanwhile, Duckworth might want to use this Joe Klein interview against Walsh ASAP…

[Walsh] told me, for example, that while he would oppose any budget deal that raises tax rates, he does support the complete elimination of such popular tax loopholes as the mortgage-interest and charity deductions.

The Democrats didn’t take this guy seriously two years ago and he won. They’ve been spiking the ball in the endzone for months. It’s obviously costing them.

* Related…

* 8th District candidates Tammy Duckworth, Joe Walsh go after voters at same event

* National debt top of mind for many in 8th Congressional District

* Duckworth, Walsh Race Illustrative Of Voter Fatigue With Partisan Politics

* Dold whacks at Schneider over job experience; Schneider hits back on abortion votes

* Durbin Blames Dold for Tea Party Gridlock in Congress - Illinois Senator criticizes North Shore Congressman during visit to Schneider’s office.

* Democrats unveil attack ads in suburban campaigns

* Plummer keeps focus on jobs

12 Comments

Gill’s poll shows Davis closing the gap

Thursday, Oct 4, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller

* An August poll taken for Democratic congressional candidate David Gill had him leading Rodney Davis by six points. Gill’s latest poll has him up by just a single point…

The poll, paid for by the campaign of Democratic candidate David Gill, shows Gill with 40 percent, Republican Rodney Davis with 39 percent and independent John Hartman with 8 percent. The survey of 400 registered, likely voters was taken Sept. 26 and 27.

Gill’s tiny lead is well within the poll’s 4.9 percentage point margin of error, according to pollster Donna Victoria.

* Money may be a factor here. Gill is being outspent, which is why he may have released the poll…

A new report by the Federal Election Commission on so-called “independent” or “superPAC” spending in the race shows that $1.795 million has been devoted to the race, most of it against Gill. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce entered the race over the weekend, saying it would put $500,000 in advertising to oppose Gill. A 30-second ad posted online by the Chamber of Commerce hits Gill for his support of President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act and for a plan to raise taxes “on job creators.” […]

The DCCC is still the biggest spender in the race, having devoted $567,122 on ads attacking Davis.

But according to the Gill campaign, slightly more than $1 million has been spent either by the independent groups or by the Davis campaign on ads opposed to Gill.

If all goes well, subscribers will have their own poll results for this district tomorrow morning.

* And, no surprise, the negative ads in that district aren’t gonna stop. Retiring Congressman Tim Johnson called for a cease fire the other day. Nobody is heeding it…

Neither the Republican nor Democratic candidates has embraced the idea, and both the National Republican Congressional Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee indicated they’ll continue to use attack ads in the new congressional district that runs from Champaign-Urbana southwest to the Edwardsville and Collinsville areas in southwestern Illinois.

In fact, the DCCC made a $238,669 media buy on Tuesday — the day the retiring Republican congressman made his request — for more ads opposing Republican candidate Rodney Davis of Taylorville. The DCCC now has invested $805,791 in the 13th District race, almost half of the $2 million that six separate superPACs have spent in the district since August.

“We stand by our ads,” said Haley Morris, a spokeswoman for the DCCC.

The Republican congressional PAC also indicated it would not abide by Johnson’s request. It has spent more than $330,000 on ads opposing Democrat David Gill.

“Bottom line, David Gill and his extremely partisan policies are bad for Illinois families,” said Katie Prill, a spokeswoman for the NRCC.

* Gill’s latest TV ad is about jobs and outsourcing…

* Related…

* Mud and money - A classic liberal and a traditional conservative are in a tight race for the new 13th Congressional District

7 Comments

Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Supplement to today’s edition and a campaign roundup

Thursday, Oct 4, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller

Comments Off

« NEWER POSTS