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The Morning Grind / DayAhead |
A tale of two TV ads
By John Mercurio
CNN Political Unit
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Bush meets with Congressional leaders to discuss progress on the emerging Medicare prescription drug bill.
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Democrat Kathleen Babineaux Blanco made history as the first woman ever elected governor in Louisiana.
Newly inaugurated California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger hit the ground running as he started his transition from action hero to politician.
Protesters in London are gearing up for the arrival of the U.S. president at Buckingham Palace.
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SPECIAL REPORT
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- On the same day the AARP plans to launch coast-to-coast cable TV ads backing a $400 billion prescription drug bill pushed by President Bush and congressional Republicans, the seniors group is sponsoring an '04 Dem forum in New Hampshire for six guys (they're all guys today) who would love to torpedo the GOP-crafted bill.
Well, make that five-and-a-half guys. Joe Lieberman, it seems, is "troubled by several provisions" in the Republicans' prescription drug measure ... but "for now" the senator is "reserving judgment" on the overall bill.
Meanwhile, in Alabama today, we're waiting to hear from Roy Moore, the defrocked chief justice of the state's Supreme Court, who sources say will make a "major national announcement." Sources tell the Grind that Moore, who hinted last week about an announcement "that would change the course of history," will not announce a challenge to Sen. Richard Shelby, as some predicted, in the GOP primary in '04, a bid he seriously eyed in 1998. Instead, Moore may simply announce that he's appealing his case to the Supreme Court, and/or ask Congress to move his Ten Commandments monument to the floor of the U.S. Capitol.
Also today, Wesley Clark will air new ads in New Hampshire, and sources say Lieberman will hold a 10:30 a.m. EST conference call to receive an endorsement from Rep. Alcee Hastings, one of the most influential African-American Democrats in Florida.
But back to New Hampshire, where the local AARP is holding its forum at 1 p.m. EST in Bedford, a meeting that, for the first time ever, will exclusively feature the top six '04 Dems, unfettered by the Other Three candidates. Clark and Lieberman will join John Edwards, Dick Gephardt, John Kerry and Howard Dean at the forum, which will focus on Medicare, prescription drugs, Social Security and health care access. The Other Three candidates were invited, but all declined to attend. Journalist Gwen Ifill will moderate the forum, which will be broadcast on WNDS-TV.
The forum will run something like this: Each candidate will deliver a 60-second opening speech, followed by a Q&A session with Ifill. Audience members will then pose questions to the candidates, who will be allowed 60-second answers. Candidates will then be allowed to make one-minute closing statements.
One issue sure to dominate: the GOP prescription drug bill, which AARP chief William Novelli said he would "pull out all the stops" to get passed. All six '04 Democrats participating in today's forum oppose the bill, which Clark yesterday said "violates the basic principle of the Hippocratic oath -- first do no harm."
"You can practically hear the celebrations at the HMOs and drug companies because of this prescription drug bill," Edwards said in a statement.
The AARP's decision to join hands with Bush and congressional GOP leaders has rattled Democrats, who traditionally rely on the 35 million-member group as a key ally on issues like Medicare reform and Social Security. In a statement, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said she's "deeply disappointed" that the group's national leadership has been "co-opted by Republicans pushing a partisan bill." She said the country "cannot afford a Trojan horse deal, which purports to help America's seniors, but is really a cruel hoax that dismantles Medicare and does not provide seniors an affordable, defined, guaranteed Medicare prescription drug benefit."
Also today, Clark will air his campaign's first TV spot, a 60-second bio ad that relies heavily on Clark's well-documented military background to argue he'd make an "extraordinary American president."
"Now when we need a leader to clean up the mess in Iraq, he's the one who has done it," an announcer says in the ad, produced by Joe Slade White and Company Inc. "He speaks four languages, but his actions speak more eloquently than words. He can get our country moving on jobs and health care ... a quiet ... real American courage, in a man who cares first about the people he leads. Wes Clark's life is, simply, an American story. But he will make ... an extraordinary American president."
Clark will spend $1.1 million to keep his ads up for most of the next two months, through the January 27 primary. This week, Clark, who aims to raise about $12 million during the fourth quarter of '03, will spend $220,000 to run the ad across the Granite State. Clark also plans major media buys in South Carolina and Arizona, part of his plan to catapult to the front of the field after a strong showing in New Hampshire.
