Who Approves Negative Ads?

Way back on Oct. 30, my New Hampshire pen pal James Farrell first talked about the awkward-sounding "I approved this message" taglines that candidates are now required to work into their broadcast ads.

I'm used to them by now, and I appreciate one by-product of this federal requirement: it seems to be cutting down on negative ads. As the New York Times mentioned yesterday (and NPR today), there is little negative TV advertising in Iowa. But, it's a whole different story on the direct mail side (which, as the Times reported, is hailing down on Iowans in record amounts. I can confirm this from my own mailbox experience).

Dick Gephardt, who won the Iowa caucus in 1988, but faces a much stiffer challenge this time around, is the candidate most frequently going negative, and the negative pieces are targeting his main rival, Howard Dean. The best example of this in the past two weeks is a full-size piece that shows Dean with mouth open, and the word "CAUGHT" at the bottom. Open up the piece, and it's a repeat of the Dean head shot on the left, with text across the top that reads "Howard Dean Tried to Deny Supporting Republican Medicare Cuts -- But He Got Caught". Then, on the right side are four quotes exposing Dean's denials (two from Morton Kondracke in Roll Call; one from Al Hunt, Wall Street Journal; and one from David Goldstein, Kansas City Star). That's it -- nothing comparative in the ad, no mention of Gephardt's record on Medicare.

Turn to the back page, and it's nearly blank except for the recipient's address and a small box in what looks like 8-point type (that's small) that reads "Paid for by Gephardt for President, Inc." So, it's much easier for candidates to distance themselves from negative print pieces than negative broadcast pieces. Dick didn't approve it, someone in his campaign did.

Would Dick Gephardt be putting out this kind of literature if it required his picture with the words "I'm Dick Gephardt and I approved of this ad..."?