Put Edwards on TV and don't worry about what he says.
Images in Ads Outpace Words in New Hampshire
Viewers Get Impressions but Forget Details
By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 22, 2004; Page A06
MANCHESTER, N.H., Jan. 21 -- Amid the barrage of television ads filling the airwaves here, one candidate who is repeatedly seen talking to small audiences caught Don Barlansky's eye.
"I've been impressed with John Edwards," the school photographer, 56, said while shopping. "I kind of like his down-home approach," even though the North Carolina senator's ads are "more about the economy. . . . I haven't heard too much from him as far as world events."
What about Wesley K. Clark's ads? "He's a little bit too military -- you don't really know where he's coming from," Barlansky said. As for Howard Dean, "watching his speech the other night, he just went overboard, just lost control."
For New Hampshire residents, the consultant-crafted imagery of millions of dollars of campaign commercials mixes seamlessly with news reports, neighborhood chatter and preconceived notions about the Democrats running for president.
Few of those interviewed could recall the details of the ads, but they contributed to an overall impression.
"I'm already getting overwhelmed by them," said Sheila McDonough, 32, a stockbroker. "It's all a blur to me at this point. You start to tune them out."
McDonough did recall an ad for Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (Conn.) promoting a plan for cutting taxes for 98 percent of taxpayers. "I don't see how we can do that without starting to hurt the whole economy."
The ads are, in a word, inescapable, especially on WMUR-TV, the only statewide channel. And after the attack ads by Dean and Rep. Richard A. Gephardt (Mo.) seemed to damage both in Iowa, the spots airing here are not only upbeat, but also more about conveying the gist of each man's personality than specific policy positions.
After two anchors gush over a ravioli cooking demonstration, several people praise Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.) for his health care plan and as the man who can beat President Bush. The ad also notes his endorsement by the Concord Monitor and Nashua Telegraph. "We need a president who's on your side," Kerry says in a newly populist pitch.
After a spot for WMUR itself -- "This is where presidents are made" -- Del Sandusky, who fought with Kerry in Vietnam, delivers a quietly effective message. "The decisions that he made saved our lives," Sandusky says as pictures of a young, rifle-wielding Lt. Kerry fill the screen.
The lieutenant is followed by the general in a wordless ad for Clark. Only swelling orchestral music is heard as graphics tout Clark's commitment to guaranteed health care and a $7 minimum wage, with his new tag line: "A higher standard of leadership."
After an ad for diet pills, Edwards is striding the floor at a town meeting, gesturing with his hands; "I think this is much bigger than this petty sniping that's going on," he says, calling for "a new, positive, uplifting vision for America."
Professional basketball player Shaquille O'Neal pitches a back-pain remedy before Clark returns: "As a leader in the Army, I fought time and again for better schools for the men and women in the service."
Dean appears in a 60-second bio spot, reintroducing himself in the state where he once held a commanding lead. "He took classes at night to get into medical school," an announcer says. "He worked in an emergency room in the Bronx, and with his wife, Judy, Howard Dean became a family doctor, hoping to make a difference one life at a time." Dean ticks off his health care and budget-balancing record as Vermont governor. The ad runs far more often than a spot reminding viewers that Dean opposed the war in Iraq.
Edwards is back at the town meeting, followed by a spot for Eggland Eggs. "Women blindsided by extramarital breakups -- next 'Oprah.' " Edwards again.
A 60-second Lieberman bio spot flashes images of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. as the senator promises to "bring the American dream back alive." This is also the first Lieberman ad to indirectly mention his religion, with a black-and-white clip of Kennedy saying: "While this year it may be a Catholic, in other years it may someday be a Jew."
With several of the ads featuring platitudes -- Clark saying, "Our children are the future," Lieberman declaring, "This is about the future of the greatest country in the world" -- many voters focus on what is most important to them.
Jeremy Watkins, 21, selling hot pretzels at a local mall, is for Dean because, in his ads and TV appearances, "he seems like he's confident and knows what he's talking about." Watkins, who was discharged from the Army last month, said he won't vote for Bush again because "we were seeing our buddies get torn up" in Iraq and Dean opposed the war.
Watkins was also drawn to Clark because "he's for the troops," but did not approve of Clark's support for abortion rights. He seemed surprised to learn that Dean also does.
Mike Zaguvek, 53, a computer programmer, said that while he finds all the ads "very superficial," he voted for Clark by absentee ballot because "I felt he was an outsider. . . . The perception is that Dean isn't credible on security issues."
WMUR's evening news Wednesday produced a kind of stereo effect, with in-studio interviews with Lieberman, Kerry and Edwards sandwiched between ads for the same candidates, along with a ski report.
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