Old and tired apply to more than just Udall himself nowadays when it comes to his campaign, it now also applies to the ads he uses to attack his opponent, Rep. Cory Gardner. Udall and his outside money have now released a sixth ad attacking Gardner over the so-called women’s issues; as if, a stagnant economy, a bureaucratic take-over of health care, and six years of rubber stamping President Barack Obama’s failed policies doesn’t affect women at all.
Needless to say, after six ads attacking on the same theme (a theme not even in the top ten for what concerns voters this election cycle), to keep it fresh, Udall’s campaign decided to add a little girl to an attack ad. Udall’s campaign know they have strayed beyond good taste here, as they try to play it off to CBS4’s Shaun Boyd, that this whole ad just happened to be more of a happy coincidence:
The Udall campaign says Garza’s daughter was not deliberately included in the ad [PeakQuestion: As if the ad went on the air without Udall and his campaign’s approval?].
In fact, they say her mom just happened to bring her to the shoot, and at the last minute ask if she could sit on her lap.
As if these ads aren’t focus-tested to hell and back. Are these the same Democrats who claim Karl Rove was planting subliminal messages way back in 2000 with the Al Gore “Rat” commercial, but now, nearly 14 years later, a little girl just happens to end up on the lap of her mother as her mother is talking about her daughter and abortion? It’s not like they could only do one take for the commercial. Udall’s campaign very deliberately left a shot of the mother just by herself on the editing floor. How many times did Udall see this ad when he signed on for it? He says he directly approves this ad at the end of it; that means, he watched it however many number of times and decided it was no big deal for a young girl to be dragged into this ad and his campaign.
Women around Colorado are starting to take notice of being pigeon-holed by Udall and his campaign. Krista Kafer had this to say in The Denver Post:
Most independent Colorado women (72 percent) believe the “War on Women” message is a worn out tactic. In other words, the straw man has lost his stuffing and is looking a little limp…
… Udall should stop treating us as single-issue voters. His narrow perception of women’s concerns is insulting. Surely there is something in his record regarding health care, foreign policy, environmental health, or the economy that he is proud of and can feature in an ad. Or perhaps he is planning on discussing these issues with just the guys.
While Amy Stephens wrote this in The Colorado Statesman:
If I could give some advice to my Democratic colleagues, reconsider your War on Women tactics. While there is a diversity of opinion about these issues among women, one thing is clear: We are not one-issue voters. Stop treating us that way.
The new lows Udall’s campaign is willing to go to force its tired, old, staid attacks on Coloradans is despicable. The fact that they try to play off a very calculated, cynical, political decision as just happenstance shows just how seedy of a race they are now running.