Salon: Going Negative

He's the father of the modern attack ad, and he's behind the Bush campaign's new wave of anti-Kerry spots. Alex Castellanos is known as vicious, irresponsible -- and effective.

(snip)

"Republicans have sent every signal that this is going to be a vicious campaign against John Kerry," says Democratic media consultant Rich Davis. "And Alex has a well-earned reputation for producing searing, negative ads."

"If I were John Kerry, I'd go get a catcher's cup and an asbestos suit, because I think they're going to come after him with everything but the kitchen sink," says Jim Krog, a Florida Democratic lobbyist. In 1994, Krog was chief of staff to Gov. Lawton Chiles and ran his reelection campaign. In that race he squared off against Castellanos. "He'll go after the jugular and rip it out," Krog says.

(snip)

Over the years Castellanos has produced a trail of caustic ads either pulled off the air, like the Bush spot in Florida, or judged by his own Republican clients to be too misleading or biting for public consumption. Yet today, because of his expertise at the negative, he has been given a central role in the Bush campaign.

His Democratic Party counterparts grant Castellanos grudging respect and understand the reason the Bush campaign has tapped him. "He's one of the most talented people in either party, and I wish he was on our side," says former Clinton aide Paul Begala, now a Democratic consultant and CNN commentator. "It's like at the end of those old Batman episodes, when they catch the villain, and the police chief turns to Batman and Robin and says, 'If only he'd use that genius for good.' That's how I feel about Alex."

more…
http://salon.com/news/feature/2004/03/15/castellanos/index.html

...and it struck me that this guy, as presented by Salon anyway, doesn't seem to have that great of a track record. He's had some successes, but he's had some trouble, too.

It'll be interesting to see how the public reacts to the potential ads here. As cynical as I am about the American public, I'd like to think people today would easily see through something like the "white hands" ad. And given the rocky start the admin is off to with their ads...

By the way, does anyone know whether those anti-Dean ads - the "latte-drinking, volvo-driving" ones were effective? Since it was a primary I'm not sure who they were aimed at, but I just can't imagine anyone with even an ounce of brain tissue wouldn't laugh at that. They were so absurd!

But I'm just an east coast liberal, so what the hell do I know.

That sounds like a good idea really. He could wear them at a campaign rally and decry all the mud being slung at him and swear he'll stand up to it and fire back with all he's got.

Or would it be silly?

One thing's for sure: it would be on the news like the I Have A Scream speech.

...maybe it's time castellanos' were exposed to the light of day. It's so early in the campaign and already the crap begins to flow. The Dems need to realize that they are dealing with a cornered, wounded animal, that will do ANYTHING and EVERYTHING to hold the White House. The Dems have to be willing to do the same. And it's not just the presidency we're talking about. We need to stop the hard-right, neocon fundies before the United States resembles nothing you or I want to be a part of.

Wake up people, we are closer to a fascist, right-wing theocracy then we are to a democratic republic, and the bad guys are willing to sacrifice whomever and whatever to see their game to fruition.