In the ad, a project of the Tides Center and paid for by the Campaign to Defend the Constitution (DefCon), traditional organ music plays softly in the background as a silver collection plate full of money is passed from hand to hand in a church.
Suddenly the plate is being passed between several men seated at a blackjack table, the “dealer” wearing a black fedora like Abramoff’s and the others resembling Georgia lieutenant-governor candidate and former Christian Coalition head Ralph Reed; the Rev. Louis Sheldon, founder of the Traditional Values Coalition; and James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family. Each throws poker chips into the plate. The voiceover suggests that the three used their influence with religious people for monetary and political gain.
Democrats rated the ad as effective, giving it an average score of 6.1 out of 10. Independents and Republicans gave the ad significantly lower marks on effectiveness — 4.9 and 4, respectively.
The ad played strongly with members of the media, who gave it 7.1 when asked if it was an ad they “would talk about.” Capitol Hill staff, lobbyists and K Street executives were much less inclined to talk about the ad, with staff scoring it 2.1 and K Street at 3.3. All the groups surveyed except lobbyists and Hill staffers said the ad had a strong message.
Gail Wehling, a retired registered nurse from Ohio and a survey participant, said, “As far as I’m concerned, the DefCon ad is another exaggerated lie from the left. I am sick of seeing ads from either side that tear people down and play on possible partial truths. ... They have become a turn-off.”
Chris Wilson, CEO of Wilson Research Strategies, said that while the ad scored low on appeal and low on credibility the results of the survey showed it would create a “buzz.”
“I question whether or not this is creditable, but it certainly is ‘an ad I would talk about,’” he said.
Reed and Sheldon have been the subject of allegations that in the summer of 2000 they helped pressure Congress to vote down a bill that would have applied existing gambling laws to wagers made over the Internet. Dobson allegedly opposed an Indian casino also opposed by an Abramoff client, according to various media reports.
In a release on its website, Focus on the Family called the ad a “lie” and reiterated that the group and Dobson “opposed gambling expansion.”
Lisa Baron, a Reed spokeswoman, said, “This false attack by the Tides Center, one of the largest funders of radical, leftist causes in the nation, will fail and will be rejected by the American people.”
The Traditional Values Coalition and its founder have “consistently opposed the expansion of gambling,” according to a spokeswoman.
DefCon spokeswoman Jessica Smith said the group has received considerable feedback from the ad and added 15,000 members to the organization.
“DefCon members sent over 12,000 e-mails to Dobson, Sheldon and Reed, imploring them to end their hypocrisy and start practicing what they preach,” she said.
Working with The Hill for its Air War feature, Wilson Research Strategies e-mails campaign or issue ads to survey participants who view the ads and rate their effectiveness on several criteria.
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