check out the comments..
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the...l?wprss=thefix
Six weeks out from the Kentucky Republican primary for Senate, Secretary of State Trey Grayson and ophthalmologist Rand Paul are in a pitched battle over that most touchy of political subjects: the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Grayson, the underdog in the May 18 primary, began the back and forth with an ad that began airing over the weekend in which the narrator says that Paul "wonders whether 9/11 was our fault".
Grayson doubled-down on the attack today with a 90-second web video that splices comments from Paul, Texas Rep. Ron Paul (Rand's father) and, yes, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
The Grayson ad and web video seek to make the case that Rand Paul believes that foreign policy decisions made by the United States in the years preceding Sept. 11, 2001 are partially to blame for the attacks.
That position is, not surprisingly, a stone-cold loser in a Republican primary anywhere in the country but particularly in a state as conservative-leaning as Kentucky.
Knowing this, Paul has immediately launched a statewide television ad in which he expresses his "outrage at terrorists who killed 3,000 innocents" before accusing Grayson of a "lie" and a "shameful" tactic.
There is NO subject more fraught with potential political peril than the terrorist attacks of September 2001. The events of that day left an indelible mark on the collective consciousness of the United States -- changing the way we look at ourselves and the world.
Politics and politicians have struggled to adapt to that change.
Democrats pooh-poohed ads run by then Rep. Saxby Chambliss in 2002 that sought to question Sen. Max Cleland's (a triple amputee during Vietnam) commitment to national security. But they worked -- undermining Cleland's credibility on the critical issue of the election and handing Republicans a stunning upset victory.
Two years later President George W. Bush won re-election by running a campaign focused heavily on his track record of keeping America safe since the Sept. 11 attacks while raising questions about Sen. John Kerry's (Mass.) ability to deal with the threats to the country.
The years that followed saw the issue recede somewhat in the political arena as the lack of another major domestic attack took terrorism and national security from a top-of-the-mind issues to a lower profile in most voters' thinking.
But, terrorism generally -- and Sept. 11, 2001 specifically -- remain a huge emotional touchstone for large swaths of the American electorate.
By making it a major issue in the final weeks of the primary fight, Grayson is taken a risk -- albeit it a calculated one. Grayson is clearly behind in the race and needs a game-changer sort of moment. He (and his team) clearly believe this to be such a moment.
The risk? That Kentucky voters view the web ad as over the top -- particularly the use of the Jeremiah Wright footage -- and rather than damaging Paul it boomerangs back around to hurt Grayson. (We saw that boomerang effect in 2008 when North Carolina Sen. Elizabeth Dole ran an ad questioning then state Sen. Kay Hagan's religious values -- an ad that, in retrospect, served as the death knell of Dole's political career.)
This is a high risk, high reward strategy for Grayson. Given Paul's momentum in the race, it may be Grayson's best/only way to fundamentally alter the calculus for Kentucky Republican primary voters. But, it could also backfire on him and make it far harder for him to emerge as the nominee.
Site Information
About Us
- RonPaulForums.com is an independent grassroots outfit not officially connected to Ron Paul but dedicated to his mission. For more information see our Mission Statement.
Connect With Us