WP: Group Runs Anti-Kerry Ads on Black Radio Stations

[kskiska]

Thursday, August 12, 2004; Page A01

A group financed by a major Republican contributor has begun running radio ads in about a dozen cities, many in battleground states, attacking Sen. John F. Kerry as "rich, white and wishy-washy" and mocking his wife for boasting of her African roots.

The D.C.-based group, People of Color United, has substantial financial backing from J. Patrick Rooney, the former chairman of Golden Rule Insurance Co. and the founder of a new firm, Medical Savings Insurance Co. Both firms specialize in medical savings accounts, created by Republican-backed 1996 legislation, and health savings accounts, which were created by President Bush's 2003 Medicare prescription drug legislation.

One of the radio ads addresses Kerry's failure to vote on a bill to extend unemployment benefits for 13 weeks: "It needed 60 votes to pass. Ninety-nine out of 100 senators voted -- Kerry did not! It lost by one vote! Maybe Kerry thought the more of us who are unemployed and hurting, the more likely we would vote Democrat."

Another ad attacks Teresa Heinz Kerry, who, at the Democratic convention last month cited her birth and upbringing in Mozambique and who has described herself as African American. In the radio commercial, the announcer says: "His wife says she's an African American. While technically true, I don't believe a white woman, raised in Africa, surrounded by servants, qualifies."

more…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58006-2004Aug11.html

[Kahuna]

1. Idiots. They must think that blacks are as gullible as freepers.

First, Teresa is an African American. So, duh. Secondly, I think all black people know that bush is rich too. Third, blacks hate bush. Period. But of course this is just intended to surpress the black vote. It won't work.

[Doosh]

2. well....

Teresa is an African American like Charlize Theoren is an african american.

[mitchtv]

3. she is a child of Africa,like she says

I am not an Indian, does that mean I am not an American?

[vickie]

4. As a black person, I'd love to ask this so called group

what they think of the first American President since Warren Harding to ignore an opportunity to speak at the NAACP convention?

Bush is despicable.

Vickie Carter
Redondo Beach, CA

OK, so maybe it wasn't Harding -- but it's been a very long time since this kind of snub was able to stand...

[grasswire]

5. what I heard her say....

.....is that she is a "continental African" by birth.

Geez. They forgot to note the part about how she helped to fight apartheid.

[livinginphotographs]

6. Let them.

Everyone black person I've talked to, even the most homophobic ones, the ones against gays in the military, the ones who are completely apolitical, hate Bush.

I have quite a few black friends, and NONE of them are voting for Bush. Shit, it's my white friends I sometimes have to push Kerry to. This is one giant waste of money, IMHO.

[Yupster]

7. So they run their ads

Good for them.

It's not going to change anything.

[Kahuna]

12. Yep. Let them waste their money on stupid, ineffective ads.

nt

[lottie244]

8. The Dems had better spend some money to counter these ads

You would be surprised by the power of suggestion.

[Kahuna]

13. Yeah right. Believe me. They're barking up the wrong tree with

ads like this. What makes you think that blacks care how Teresa identifies herself or how rich they are. We're smarter than that.

[Democat]

9. This is what happens when you don't attack them back - watch for more!

Democrats are not fighting back effectively, so the Republicans now know they can do whatever they want without consequences.

Bill Clinton said it on the Daily Show - as long as Democrats don't make the Republicans pay for their attacks, they will get worse and worse.

We didn't make them pay for the Swift Boat ads, so they will go even further and get even dirtier.

At some point, Kerry is going to have to make Bush pay for this, or we will all pay with another four years of Bush.

[progressivebydesign]

10. "People of Color, United?"

I bet there is no color amongst them other than that pasty ass glow of Rove, Hannity, Hastert, Cheney... they're the whitest, most pasty bastards I've ever seen. I doubt there is one person of color in that group. This shit will backfire. They treat Blacks as though they're stupid. BIG mistake.

And about the African American slur... If I was born in Germany and move here, I'm a German American. She is from Africa, she is African American. Just as they describe people as Japanese American, etc. It does not always specify a race..

"Surrounded by servants". Her father was a doctor... not a filthy rich oil baron, like the Bush family.

[SoCalDem]

11. It lost by ONE vote... Hah.. If Kerry HAD voted,

Dick Cheney would just have cast the tie-breaker.. These guys are so deviously transparent..

[VolcanoJen]

14. Kick

:dem:

[BushLicks]

15. By "Black" Radio Stations...

Do you mean the ones that are controled by Michael - err.. Colin Powell, Jr.?

[AlGore-08.com]

16. This is a lot more subtle than folks are giving them credit for

Running anti-Dem ads in black markets is designed to do two things:

1.) Reduce Dem African-American support by 5% to 10%. Kerry (or any Dem running on a State or National ticket) needs a very high percentage of the African-American vote to win. If Team Smirk can get a small percentage of the voters already committed to Kerry to stay home in disgust, Smirk will win legitimately. (It also helps to make voter purges less noticeable if African-American turn out is down rather than up, but that's another thread.) Team Smirk have a similar strategy with Latinos - - the thinking is that if they get 5% more of the Latino vote than they did in 2000, they will win legitimately.

2.) Turn off white, middle class suburban voters (swing voters) who hear about the ads, usually from another media source (like the WashPost). Most white, suburban voters (Dems, GOPers, Independents, any party) do not want to vote for anybody who is openly bigoted. Since the mainstream press does not cover civil rights issues, it's very easy to hoodwink these voters into thinking a candidate is a closet racist (or homophobe or misogynist or anti-Semite or whatever). That's why there's usually at least one whisper campaign per national election about what a bigoted creep the Dem candidate is.

Remember, this election is projected to be as close if not closer than 2000. The percentage of swing voters is at a historic low - - some polls have it as low as 2%. Therefor, a strategy that changes the minds of .5% of the swing voters is a highly effective one. A strategy that changes the minds of 2% of the swing voters could be the move that wins the election.

[DEMonstate]

17. Does anyone have a website for this group?

[Shallah Kali]

18. A little info on Rooney here

http://www.incertus.blogspot.com/

People of Color United is part of D.C. Parents for School Choice and I found this article with some info on that group:

http://www.blackcommentator.com/55/55_cover_vouchers_pf.html

Mother Jones on J. Patrick Rooney
http://motherjones.com/news/outfront/2004/03/02_401.html

Rarely has a basic federal program been so tied to one man or one company. In their 10-year campaign to promote health savings accounts, Rooney's family, companies, and employees have given $3.6 million to political candidates and committees, with 90 percent going to Republicans. Rooney and his companies gave another $2.2 million to Republican organizations, including $121,000 to help pay for President Bush's Florida recount battle, and nearly $1.9 million for a group called the Republican Leadership Coalition, which ran attack ads against Al Gore during the 2000 campaign. Rooney also registered himself as a lobbyist and spent close to $2.2 million working the halls of Congress and the White House.