As the Nov. 5 election draws near and poll numbers are being released, there has been an increase in negative television advertising, increasing the tension between Republican Gov. Scott McCallum and democratic candidate Attorney General Jim Doyle as they race for governor.
In the latest poll results — the first published since the state’s primary election — the Badger Poll showed Doyle with a slight lead over McCallum. Of those polled, 43 percent said they supported Doyle, and 35 percent said supported McCallum.
In the poll, 37 percent said they had not yet decided who they would be voting for, heightening the competition between the opposing candidates.
Recently, there has been a flurry of negative ads released by the Republican Party of Wisconsin, attacking Doyle’s proposals, and the Wisconsin Teacher’s Union, which has attacked McCallum’s stance on state education.
Doyle’s campaign said the only counterattacks have been denials — up until recently.
Doyle’s campaign aired an ad charging McCallum with mismanaging Wisconsin’s finances. Both political parties are now resorting to negative advertising campaigns as a political tactic.
In attempt to discredit Doyle’s proposals, the Republican Party created an attack ad called “Cradle.” The ad accuses Doyle of wanting to tax the public on everything from diapers to wheelchairs. The ad said, “When you die, Jim Doyle could even tax your casket. And the flag they drape it with.”
Republican Party Chairman Rick Graber responded to the ad saying, “The Jim Doyle record is clear: He wants to tax Wisconsin citizens from the cradle to the grave.
“His vague proposals don’t hide the fact that Jim Doyle’s expensive agenda would be paid for on the backs of Wisconsin’s working families.”
The Doyle Campaign’s “More Wonder” responded to the accusations, reaffirming McCallum is distorting the truth.
The ad features Doyle stating that his opponent has a “record of higher taxes and mismanagement” and is “hiding the truth.”
Moreover, he labels McCallum as being responsible for dramatic increase in property taxes and for the $2.8 billion deficit over the next two years.
The WEAC aired ads supporting the Doyle Campaign: “But he still can’t hide his budget mess. Under Scott McCallum, Wisconsin has been forced to use ‘accounting tricks’ and selling the tobacco settlement for less than 30 cents on the dollar to balance the budget.”
McCallum’s campaign has yet to respond to Doyle’s newly launched ad and persistently claims that Doyle will raise taxes if elected, although Doyle has repeatedly stated otherwise.
Doyle’s campaign called the Republican ads a “blatant lie,” and by questioning McCallum’s decency, he urged him to get the party to stop the ads. McCallum told reporters he believes the ads are accurate and supports the statements within the commercial.
Doyle campaign director Bill Christofferson told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that McCallum’s ad strategy is not working. According to the article, Doyle said ads saying he will raise taxes are false.
“Neither of them is behaving as though the race is settled, and each is behaving as though they believe they need to raise questions about the other candidate. They’ve spent a fair amount of time criticizing each other, because neither of them has developed an overwhelming positive mandate,” said Badger Poll director G. Donald Ferree, Jr.
Now that the Doyle Campaign has retorted against McCallum’s attacks in this gubernatorial race, it will be no surprise if the belittling battle persists until the November election.
