You'd have to watch more TV than I do even during baseball playoffs to keep up with all the Symington-Douglas ads. I caught the tail end of Republican Gov. Jim Douglas' anti-Democrat Gaye Symington ad last night and all I glimpsed was a photo of Symington. Now having seen the full ad
HERE, I see that Symington is in doom-gloom black-and-white, Douglas in color, with the statement, "It's clear. Vermont can't afford Gaye Symington."
More ads are on their way.
Symington has one coming that's on her Web site now. You can see it
HERE.
I would swear that they have pudged-out Douglas' face to make him look Dick Cheney-esque.
The gist of the ad is that Symington will protect Vermonters while Douglas will leave Vermonters stuck with the bill for cleaning up after Vermont Yankee.
It quotes the Rutland Herald as saying "Douglas hinders Yankee review." Douglas' campaign points out that that headline was on a letter to the editor from a Symington supporter and that the letter looks very much like a form letter. That's not the same as the Herald making the statement.
Douglas campaign manager Dennise Casey fired off this:
“The Symington campaign is so desperate for traction that they will say
anything,” said Dennise Casey, campaign manager for Governor Jim Douglas.
“Vermonters know that Governor Douglas will always put their safety first.
Governor Douglas called for the Independent Safety Inspection that is going on
now and looks forward to the pending results.”
Casey continued: “This citation is blatantly misleading and misrepresents
Rutland Herald reporters and editorial page writers. Gaye Symington should be
embarrassed by this.”
It amazes me how much both campaigns use these quotes from newspapers, as if they are relying on us to be the arbiter. I hope they keep this high regard for us in mind next time they complain about us.
Another thing I find odd: That Douglas's ads so frequently mention the name Gaye Symington. Those mass-media experts his campaign's been paying must have told him that was the way to go, but it seems as though he's giving her name recognition she doesn't otherwise have.
******update*******
I asked Symington's campaign if they altered the photo to give Douglas that Cheney look. Here's the response from spokesman Michael Carrese:
Nope. The producer says the following:
The photo came from this slide show on the official VT website (about 8 or 9 slides in)
http://governor.vermont.gov/media/slideshow/spectrum-signing.html. We isolated the image and flipped it, but did not alter it in any way.
- Terri Hallenbeck
