Democrat Becky Greenwald has been low on cash the last few weeks, but her campaign bought 60 seconds of air time on the CBS and NBC affiliates in Des Moines and Mason City immediately before Barack Obama’s prime-time special on October 29.
Greenwald’s ad was outstanding and could not have been more clear about the contrast between her and incumbent Tom Latham. Click the link to watch the commercial, which made clear that Latham is a Republican who’s voted with George Bush 94 percent of the time–even more often than John McCain. Meanwhile, the ad made clear visually and in the voice-over that Becky Greenwald is a Democrat who will support Barack Obama’s policies.
I hope they will be able to air this commercial during the final days of the campaign. Please donate to Greenwald’s campaign if you can afford to, so that more viewers will be exposed to this message. It’s much stronger than the biographical ad Greenwald was running in late September, which didn’t make much of a case against Latham.
In response to the Research 2000 poll showing a tight race in IA-04, Latham’s campaign released partial results from an internal poll showing him ahead by 22 points.
Latham’s early tv spots were positive about his record (while avoiding the Republican label). In October he started running negative ads on the bailout in heavy rotation.
We’ll find out next Tuesday if Obama’s coat-tails are enough to overcome Latham’s big edge in paid media. It’s a D+0 district where Democrats have made huge gains in voter registration in the past two years.
In related news, Time magazine says IA-04 is a “race to watch.” The political director of EMILY’s List says he is “cautiously optimistic” about Greenwald’s chances and falsely claims that EMILY’s List “came on board” for her soon after meeting with her this summer. In fact, EMILY’s List didn’t endorse Greenwald until September 16. The group has been communicating with Greenwald’s campaign but hasn’t run any ads in Iowa’s fourth district.
The Des Moines Register endorsed Greenwald today, while the Mason City Globe-Gazette endorsed Latham over the weekend.
UPDATE: I forgot to mention that the United Auto Workers PAC has been running a radio ad criticizing Latham for voting for tax breaks for corporations and against equal pay for women. The ad also says we need Becky Greenwald in Congress.
One race which both parties have overlooked is the seat held by Tom Latham. Should there be a strong anti-Republican turnout then Latham quite possibly can find himself in the same situation as Jim Nussle did in 2006. Democrat Becky Greenwald is not the strongest candidate which Democrats could have fielded, yet the demographics here are favorable to Democrats. Greenwald must perform strong in the ten counties which are favorable to Democrats (Allamakee, Cerro Gordo, Chickasaw, Floyd, Howard, Mitchell, Story, Webster, Winnoshiek, and Worth). A strong area for Latham are the three suburban counties of Des Moines (Dallas, Madison, and Warren). On election night five counties (Boone, Greene, Marshall, Palo Alto, and Winnebago) will essentially provide a clue as to whether or not Latham survives. If Latham is behind in any of these five counties or under 60% in the Des Moines suburbs, then he is headed for defeat.
It made the points clearly, and it repeated the main ones for us folks who get distracted or misremember stuff. Running against Bush-Latham seems like a winner to me. And the magic word “Democrat” was all over it. I’m proud for her!