MoveOn Ad campaign to oust Bush

From the Detroit News:

In a $2 million media campaign scheduled to run for two weeks in five states that could prove critical in next year's race, Moveon.org's voter fund is airing a 30-second spot that questions the recent federal appropriation of $87 billion that is targeted mostly for Iraq.

"President Bush is going to spend $87 billion more in Iraq," says an announcer. As the commercial cuts to a shot of a little boy sitting at a school desk in an empty lot, the announcer adds, "Where's his plan for taking care of America?"

The ad will air in Florida, West Virginia, Ohio, Missouri and Nevada, which collectively have 68 electoral votes of the 270 necessary to win the presidency. Bush narrowly won all five states in 2000.

...Traditionally, [MoveOn co-founder Wes Boyd] said, candidates and advocacy groups hold fund-raisers throughout much of the campaign season, develop a large war chest and then buy a rash of television commercials to sway public opinion just before the election.

"We don't think that model will work anymore," he said. "The American public is cynical; people block out the ads because they are coming at them so strong during the last few months."


From MoveOn e-mail to members:

Dear MoveOn member,

We have some great news. Weeks of on-the-ground testing have shown that our "$87 Billion" TV ad successfully gets the truth out about President Bush and his policies. In West Virginia, where we ran the ad, there was an impressive 4% drop in support for Bush. In Ohio, where no ad ran, little changed. Even experts who have been in this field for years were blown away.

So today, we're launching our first really big MoveOn Voter Fund ad buy. We’re putting the "$87 Billion" ad to work in several key swing states -- putting up close to two million dollars to make sure that every TV viewer in these states sees the ad multiple times. With the results so far, we know that this ad buy will have a measurable impact. Now please help us continue to fund this effort by giving $25, $50, or $100, or whatever you can. Remember, every two dollars you contribute will be matched by another dollar from our major contributors.

...To our knowledge, no one's ever run an ad this deep so far before an election. But together, we have an opportunity to shape the political landscape now -- before President Bush and the Democratic candidates start attacking each other on TV and voters tune out. Our purpose is not to tell voters how to vote, but to educate them about Bush's policies and let them decide. Our tests show that the ads are working.

This campaign is a great example of how we'll get our message through -- by being nimbler, by being empirical, by being more strategic, and by speaking the truth. Our purpose is not to tell voters how to vote, but to educate them about Bush's policies and let them decide. Our tests show that the ads are working.

The ad:

RealMedia format
MPG format

Contribute to the ad fund.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.