Lieberman's first ads to begin airing in New Hampshire
Presidential candidate Joseph I. Lieberman unveiled his first television ads of the campaign season yesterday, two short, blunt spots attacking the GOP's policies on Iraq and taxes that will run in New Hampshire for several weeks.
The new push comes at a critical time for the Connecticut senator: His poll numbers in New Hampshire and elsewhere are sagging, his fund-raising has been lackluster, he decided to abandon campaigning in Iowa, and his debate performances have come off as harsh and belligerent.
The ads, filmed last week in a Delaware diner, avoid the sepia tones of traditional biographical spots in favor of allowing Lieberman to succinctly address events in the headlines..
Former Vermont governor Howard Dean has been running television ads in New Hampshire since August, joined more recently by Representative Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri, Senator John F. Kerry of Massachusetts, and Senator John Edwards of North Carolina. One local expert thought Lieberman acted wisely in waiting until now to go on air.
"It's the right time. Voters are starting to really pay attention," said Jennifer Donahue of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College. "But Lieberman is underfunded, and it's going to be difficult for him to sustain it over time."
Mandy Grunwald, Lieberman's media consultant, said, "We have waited until now because we've been frugal." She declined to say how much the campaign will spend to air the ads.
In one ad, Lieberman accuses Bush of alienating allies in the run-up to the Iraq war. But then comes a jab at his Democratic opponents who voted against Bush's $87 billion rebuilding request.
"I didn't duck it. I didn't play politics. I voted to support our troops and finish the job," he says.
The other ad accuses Republicans of handing corporations "outrageous" tax breaks, referring to a proposed Senate bill that would give manufacturing companies a $142 billion tax cut.
Raja Mishra can be reached at rmishra@globe.com.
