Update: Matt Martin cuts a deservedly new one for Davis over at MnPublius in How Desperate is Brian Davis? CD1 Repub’s 1st Ad is an Attack. Actually, Martin's headline is slightly inaccurate: the new ad is Davis's second ad. That fact makes Martin's point all the more germane, since the first ad was an attack ad as well.
On the other hand, maybe attack ads are a perfectly adequate window on Brian Davis's character and leadership style. [end update]
As we mentioned earlier, Brian Davis's new ad campaign was slated to run today; the ad marks his first time back on the air since the primary on September 9. His pre-primary ad was disparaged in the local press as "misleading."
Other candidates with low name recognition might run a positive, intro ad that let viewers get to know the candidate. That's the winning strategy Walz took in 2006. His first ad, airing in mid-September, was a contrast ad that incldued biographical elements; his second, the highly praised "Everyday Heroes," was a positive intro ad that starting airing a few days later.
Davis is going down a much different path--and it's a strategy that isn't getting much traction in the U.S. Senate race: the attack ad.
We haven't yet seen the ad yet, though the Walz camapign has supplied a script. It hasn't been on today while we've watched KEYC-TV, which we get on cable, though we saw a number of Walz, Coleman and Franken ads while we had the set on. It's clear that in the Mankato market at least, Coleman is hoping to staunch his bleed-out by switching to issue ads. The Davis campaign obviously didn't get the memo from the public.
The Walz campaign has issued the following statement and Ad Fact Check sheet, which includes the script.
For ourselves, we have to laugh at a guy like Davis--who plumps his own engineering resume, recites urban legends as if they are fact, and routinely distorts--calling himself a "straight shooter." If ever an endorsement served to blast away a cliched metaphor, the NRA's endorsement of Walz works pretty well.
Help the Walz campaign keep its own positive message on the air by contributing here and sign up to volunteer for the grassroots voter contact effort the Walz campaign is spearheading in Southern Minnesota.
The Walz campaign statement:
Davis Launches False and Misleading TV Ad
( Southern Minnesota ) – Today, Brian Davis launched a false and misleading TV ad that distorts Tim Walz's record. The attached Ad Watch sets the record straight and debunks the Davis ad.
Walz Campaign Manager ChrisSchmitter said, "Dr. Davis is resorting to false and misleading TV attacks because Southern Minnesotans won't support his plan to privatize Social Security and gamble it away on the stock market. The truth is Tim Walz is working for the middle-class families of southern Minnesota , while Dr. Davis is using the same-old Washington playbook, trying to mislead the voters.
Continued below the fold.
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