Yanni For Senate

08/30/2006
New Lieberman TV ad prompts rapid response from Lamont camp
By Don Michak
Journal Inquirer

U.S. Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman on Tuesday began airing a new television commercial in which the camera focuses on a stunning sunset over an ocean beach as a narrator suggests that "you might enjoy a break from Ned Lamont's negative advertising."

"So just sit back and think about - good stuff," the unseen woman advises viewers. "Like Senator Lieberman saving jobs, improving health care, and keeping us safe."

Dan Gerstein, Lieberman's campaign spokesman, said today that the commercial, titled "Soothing," was "a light way to cut through all the Lamont negativity and distortions and remind voter of all the things Joe Lieberman has gotten done for the state."

The 30-second advertisement, the first produced by Lieberman's new media consultant, Josh Isay, promptly earned the scorn of the newly independent candidate's Internet critics, including one wag who dubbed it "Yanni for Senate."

But it also drew a swift and detailed reaction from the Lamont campaign, said to have been bolstered last week with the addition of a senior adviser to Sen. Hillary Clinton, Howard Wolfson, whose specialty is "rapid response."

Lamont's campaign spokesman, asked today if Wolfson had a hand in the matter, acknowledged only that, "we have beefed up our communications department."

After suggesting that the sunset was a "fitting metaphor" for the end of Lieberman's Senate career, the Lamont campaign "fact check" put out within hours of the commercial's first airing stressed that the incumbent himself repeatedly had attacked Lamont.

It also argued that Lieberman has been a "strong supporter" of "President Bush's free trade policies" as well as the North American Free Trade Agreement, which it said cost state residents jobs, that he voted against Bill Clinton's health care changes and "never fought for universal health coverage," and that he "blindly followed President Bush on Iraq, which made the country less safe."

Gerstein, meanwhile, dismissed the Lamont reaction.

"The idea of the Lamont campaign posing as guardians of the truth has about as much receptivity as John Karr heading the FBI," he said, referring to the man who offered the now-discredited confession to killing JonBenet Ramsey.

"The Lamont campaign is showing its true colors by going negative in response to an advertisement pointing out their negativity," he added. "They couldn't make our point better for us."

Lamont's campaign spokeswoman, Liz Dupont-Diehl, disagreed.

"Too bad Joe Lieberman thinks talking about his record is negative," she said.

In other developments Tuesday, Jack Kemp, the Republican candidate for vice president in 1996, said he would campaign for Lieberman's reelection.

But U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawaii, said he had changed his mind about supporting Lieberman following the latter's defeat by Lamont in the Democratic primary three weeks ago.

Inouye, who had campaigned for Lieberman against Lamont, said he was "most disappointed and unhappy" with comments by Lieberman suggesting that the Democratic Party was out of touch with the American mainstream and that the party had lost its values.