Commercial Battle of Presidential Campaign Kicks into High Gear
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: This week in politics, the commercial battle of the presidential campaign kicks into high gear. Both the Gore and Bush campaigns have launched major television advertising blitzes. CNN's Bernard Shaw has been viewing the results.</s>BERNARD SHAW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In week one of the general election air war, swing state viewers are getting bombarded by an Al Gore biographical ad. (</s>BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, AD) UNIDENTIFIED NARRATOR: Al Gore has his doubts, but enlists in the Army.</s>SHAW: And a pair of George Bush spots, one on the need to focus on tough choices, the other on education. (</s>BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, AD) GOV. GEORGE W. BUSH (R-TX), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Now is the time to teach all our children to read and renew the promise of America's public schools.</s>SHAW: Each campaign is spending over $5 million this week alone, with the sprawling Midwest swing belt the prime target. Both campaigns are on the air in Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, and the belt's eastern anchor, Pennsylvania. Another major air battle is underway in the Northwest, in Washington and Oregon. Both campaigns are also up in Delaware, Florida, Arkansas and New Mexico. And Bush is running uncontested spots in Nevada, Georgia, North Carolina and New Hampshire. But the two richest electoral prizes, New York and California, are off this week's battle map. Gore's selection of Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman may have taken the entire New York market out of play, at least temporarily. California is the nation's most expensive media market. Bush trails Gore there, and has apparently decided he can get more bang for the buck elsewhere. Bernard Shaw, CNN, Washington.</s>PHILLIPS: Vice President Al Gore is maintaining his lead in the polls one week after Democratic National Convention. A "Newsweek" survey find in a two-way race, the Democratic presidential nominee has a marginal 49 to 45 percent lead over GOP rival Texas Governor George W. Bush. That's within the poll's 4-point margin of arrow. Six percent of those surveyed were undecided. The latest numbers also showed a narrowing in the battle of sexes. The poll found 51 percent of women backing Gore to Bush's 36 percent. But Bush still attracts the male vote, garnering 48 percent to Gore's 40 percent. Joining us now to discuss this week in politics, Linda DiVall, Republican strategist, and president and founder of the public opinion research firm, American Viewpoint. She joins us from Washington. And Celinda Lake, Democratic pollster and president of Lake Research, a research-based strategy firm. She's in Detroit. Hello, ladies. Linda, let's begin with you. What does Gore have to do to stay on top of Bush right now?</s>CELINDA LAKE, DEMOCRATIC POLLSTER: Well I think what we have to do is keep doing what we've been doing. We had a very powerful consolidation of Democratic voters at the Democratic convention, pulled back voters from Nader. And then drew a very strong contrast that's very appealing to independent voters, particularly independent women, and that included introducing him personally as a family man, as a values-oriented person, and then talking about some of the issues that are important and some of the difference on those issues.</s>PHILLIPS: Now, Linda, historically, Labor Day weekend has meant something for the front-runner, correct? So what's happening here with Bush and his ad campaign? Is this a play to take a lead here?</s>LINDA DIVALL, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, I think first of all, Gore is the beneficiary of post-convention euphoria, which was to be anticipated. I think George W. Bush's campaign properly planned for that, and they're putting forward a very aggressive campaign that talks about two issues, one education, that will appeal to women and Baby Boomer parents, second, and I think the more important, he has tough choices, which talks about in this new era of surplus politics what are responsibility is, and that responsibility is not to give the money away to Washington to spend. And I think the Bush campaign needs to be more aggressive defining the surplus politics, making clear that, first, the Bush plan will protect Social Security, second, it will give back more to taxpayers as opposed to Gore plan, which simply allows for 25 cents of every surplus dollar to go to new discretionary domestic spending. So I think there is a very inherent message in the Bush campaign about tough choices, about responsibility, that will appeal to swing voters and fiscal conservative, which is a very important message.</s>PHILLIPS: Now, Celinda, Democrats are saying that these ads are misleading. Is that -- why?</s>LAKE: Well, I think that we feel they're misleading in a number of ways. First of all, they don't lay out specifics. Secondly, if there is any one who has laid out tough choices there and delivered on them, it's the last eight years of the Gore administration, the Clinton administration. We're the ones who reduced the surplus. We're ones who invested in education. And we're ones who delivered on tax breaks for working families.</s>DIVALL: Linda, last time I checked, it was Congress that had a lot to do with that. That was the Republican Congress that put the budget discipline in place. Secondly, if you want to talk specifics, I think we should go back and try to price out exactly what Al Gore's convention speech costs taxpayers. Prescription drugs, for example. I mean, if you look at his plan, Celinda, you know and I know that it would not do anything to keep the surplus under control. It would probably blow a hole in the budget, as he is found of saying, and the plan has not been properly scored. So I think that's where some specifics are lacking and where the Bush campaign has an opportunity to really do some very strong comparison between the two plans.</s>PHILLIPS: Linda, you mentioned specifics. Let's get specific. Diversity -- top issue at both conventions. I was reading an op-ed piece in the "Wall Street Journal" talking about diversity and that the candidates are sort of pandering with this issue. Linda, are Republicans serious when it comes to diversity?</s>DIVALL: Well, absolutely, there is no question about it. I mean, if you go back to George W. Bush's campaigns, you can see that the effort he put into and the success that he has had in drawing Hispanic and African-American voters. Our last American Viewpoint poll showed George W. Bush receiving 19 percent of the African- American vote, which is almost double what Bob Dole received. He is doing quite well with the Hispanic vote in the key states of Texas, Florida and California. It is critical if you look at the demographic in the electoral college, that you must do well with these voter groups, and George W. Bush knows that. And he's putting people forward in campaigns and in policy position to demonstrate that is a very serious effort.</s>PHILLIPS: Celinda, why shouldn't minorities vote Republican?</s>LAKE: Well, I can't imagine.</s>DIVALL: Because of the opportunity George W. Bush is extending their way.</s>PHILLIPS: Celinda.</s>DIVALL: Well, except that let's look at the convention floor as a first step for opportunity. We don't have to pander to diversity. We are a diverse party. Our floor had a number of, thousands of delegates who are African-American, delegates who were Hispanic. Our floor was 50/50, male, female. We don't have go out and look for people we have African-American officeholders and Hispanic officeholders at every level of government. We have major leadership that will take over committees if we're in charge of Congress. So we don't have to look just for bands to prove that we're a diverse party.</s>PHILLIPS: Some African-Americans feel the Democratic Party is taking advantage of them?</s>LAKE: I think that is important for the Democratic Party and the Republican Party to sincerely deliver on their promises of opportunity and diversity. But I think if you compare the record, on affirmative action, on college loans, on job credits, on housing credits, there is no contest between these two parties.</s>PHILLIPS: Celinda Lake, Linda DiVall, thank you very much for joining us. It's been a pleasure.</s>LAKE: Thank you.</s>DIVALL: Thank you.