Gephardt, Dean pull negative ads as undecideds seek positive tone

Gephardt, Dean pull negative ads
as undecideds seek positive tone

RON FOURNIER, AP Political Writer

Friday, January 16, 2004


(01-16) 14:37 PST DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) --

Democratic presidential rivals Howard Dean and Dick
Gephardt declared a truce in their air war Friday,
pulling negative ads from Iowa television in the
closing days of a remarkably tight caucus race.

The shift came as the four-way contest, the closest
since 1988, focused on the growing number of
undecided voters suddenly choosing sides.
Fence-sitters usually reject negative ads, thus Dean
and Gephardt went positive.

Sens. John Kerry of Massachusetts and John
Edwards of North Carolina were drawing the most
support from the last-minute shoppers, campaign
pollsters and strategists said. After starting the week
behind Dean and Gephardt, the two senators closed
the gap in a race that is impossible to predict
because the vagaries of the caucus system makes
polling unreliable.

The stakes are highest for Gephardt, who won the
1988 caucuses by four percentage points -- a
landslide in comparison to where the race stood
Friday. A defeat would effectively end the Missouri
lawmaker's 28-year political career, aides said.


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:)

This primary should be more about the positives of what each candidate could do to help this country improve and to beat Shrub. There are better ways to display that one is the better candidate then with negative ads.

I'll take any one of them for president (except Lieberman). And the winner should surround themselves with the other candidates (except for Lieberman) in the cabinet, etc.

a smart move by the one who beats the Shrub.

by both

Attack ads keep the undecided vote at home, benefitting those with a strong machine.

What's going on in Iowa right now can honestly be described as a fury over voting. There are people getting involved right now who have never been involved before.

With higher voter turnout, the attack ads die, because they also hurt the advertiser.

--Brian

The media cries and the democrats run and hide, oh no we can't run negative ads, oh no, not democrats , they will all be told to stand there smiling while the republicans open up with both barrels. We don't need candidates that are going to knuckle under to the media, democrats need leaders. We played this game last presidential election, and you know where that led to. Democrats must be democrats, screw the media, OK, we some times get a little rough, well too bad, that is the way democracy works, if the independents are going to allow a few negative ads to persuade them to give the bush team 4 more years, then they deserve everything they get from he bush team.