Rivals Escalate Battle On Ads

Democrats turn up primary rhetoric

With just 12 days left before the primary and the airwaves increasingly crowded with negative ads, Democratic front-runner Shannon O’Brien yesterday suggested that her opponents take a lesson from New York candidate Andrew Cuomo, who she said was so reluctant to run negative ads that he dropped out of the governor’s race there.Meanwhile, Democrat Warren Tolman continued his assault on rival Robert Reich’s truthfulness, launching a Web site it says details inconsistencies in Reich’s statements, and Reich returned fire at a candidates’ forum in Lowell.

The candidates will meet tonight in a televised debate, sponsored by The Boston Globe and other media, that some believe could be pivotal to the race.

O’Brien made her comments during a debate at the Lowell Sun yesterday as the candidates sparred over negative ads. She said that Cuomo, trailing by more than 20 percentage points, withdrew from the race rather than battling front-runner H. Carl McCall, because “the gap that [he] would create in the Democratic fabric would be too costly.” She was seconded by Reich, who shot out, “Let’s hear it for Andrew Cuomo!”

O’Brien’s spokesman later said she wasn’t suggesting that her opponents quit the race, but that they should consider how negative ads could hurt them in the fight against Republican Mitt Romney.

But Tolman and rival Thomas F. Birmingham, who have both launched recent ads criticizing O’Brien, insisted that their ads were justified, because they were comparing different candidates’ records.

“Do you agree,” Birmingham asked during the debate, “that there is a difference between impugning someone’s integrity and drawing a policy difference, a performance difference?”

The exchanges underscored the increasing tensions in the race, as the candidates intensify their efforts to sway undecided voters before the Sept. 17 primary. And that frenzied push makes tonight’s debate especially important, said Democratic political consultant Dan Payne.

“The undecided number will go down rapidly from now on,” he said.

The 7 p.m. debate will air in Boston on channels 2, 4, 5, 7, and New England Cable News. While Payne predicted it will be well-watched, he said it could lack the spontaneity of previous years’ debates, since the candidates have faced each other so many times over this summer’s long campaign.

“They know each other’s lines now,” he said.

Yesterday’s debate in Lowell was, in some ways, emblematic of the past months’ worth of small-scale forums. Much of the time, it was a detailed, idea-filled policy discussion among candidates who agree on many principles and positions.

All four said they hope to tweak, but not eliminate, the state’s decades-old law that encourages communities to create affordable housing. All four oppose the Unz initiative, a ballot question that would sharply curtail bilingual education. They differed slightly in their stances on the MCAS exam, but agreed that accountability was important, and that borderline students should have a way to graduate without passing the test.

But while the candidates tried to draw contrasts among their backgrounds and profiles, they disagreed most heartily when it came to the definition – and the fairness – of negative ads.

Birmingham sparred with O’Brien over the facts in his recent television ads, which challenge the performance of the state pension fund. (“That’s not true,” O’Brien said at one point, and Birmingham shot back, “Is so.” But the fiercest sparks flew between Reich and Tolman, a continuation of an angry exchange that began last week, when Tolman aired a television ad challenging Reich’s truthfulness, and Reich said Tolman was misusing Clean Elections funds.

Yesterday, the Tolman campaign fired two more shots: a Web site attacking Reich, called actuallybob.com; and a television ad attacking O’Brien and Reich. The negativity, Reich said, could ultimately hurt the Democratic cause, giving more ammunition to Republican Mitt Romney.

But Tolman said he would make no apology for drawing contrasts.

“I stand by every one of my ads,” he said, causing Reich to get angrier.

“Warren, do you want me to go through this?” Reich said. “Do you want me to get into the gutter with you? . . . If you will allow me the courtesy . . .”

“Have the courtesy of letting him get into the gutter with you, Warren!” a clearly amused Birmingham chimed in.

And there seemed few takers, besides O’Brien, when Reich suggested a truce: “Can we at least agree to a principle here among Democrats? We are not going to impugn each other’s integrity. We are not going to drag each other down.”

After the debate, Tolman said Reich was himself contributing to the ramped-up rhetoric. “Nobody ever called me a political hack” until Reich did so last week, Tolman said. “Maybe Bob should retreat to a classroom here if he can’t take the give-and-take of a political campaign.”

Tolman added that it’s wise to air differences in the primary, to prepare for an inevitable Republican barrage.

“Mitt Romney is going to talk about it in October if we don’t talk about it in September,” Tolman said.

Every candidate has felt the recent need to draw contrasts and respond to attacks, said Payne, the Democratic consultant. But he cautioned that viewers will be turned off, and could tune out, if tonight’s debate grows too raucous and personal.

“I think they’ll be reaching for the remotes, and even watching the Red Sox,” Payne said. “That’s how desperate they’ll be if this turns into a food fight.”

SIDEBAR: On the air

The debate featuring the Democratic candidates for governor will be broadcast live from 7 to 8 tonight on WGBH (Channel 2), WBZ (Channel 4), WCVB (Channel 5), WHDH (Channel 7), and NECN. It is sponsored by a media consortium that includes The Boston Globe. Panelists are Joan Vennochi of the Globe, Anthony Everett of Channel 5, Joe Shortsleeve of Channel 4, and Emily Rooney of Channel 2.



Comments are closed.