Wisconsin Protests Spark Ad War (VIDEO)

Tensions between Wisconsin public employees and Republican Gov. Scott Walker have led to the beginning of an advertising war marked by a volley of commercials coming from a variety of sources.

The first salvo was launched last week by a third-party group, the Koch-backed conservative organization Americans for Prosperity. Entitled "Stand with Scott Walker," the commercial commends the governor for purportedly taking the necessary steps to address the state's budget shortfalls, actions that would force public employees to pay a larger share of their pensions and health care benefits, as well as limit collective bargaining rights of the state's unions. It also directs blame at President Obama for supposedly helping to organize the massive protests, which the ad argues don't represent the will of Wisconsin voters.

The Republican Governors Association -- a group most commonly involved with electoral politics -- tried their hand at a different type of activism this week, taking to the airwaves to broadcast a similar defense of Walker. In their spot, the RGA paints Walker's budget proposal as a brave and reasonable solution, while criticizing the state's Democratic senators for "running away" from their legislative duties.

The Republican National Committee has taken a slightly different line, attempting to make the Wisconsin standoff a national issue. In the ad, the RNC attempts to connect the strife in the Badger State to a larger reelection goal for President Obama. It accuses "Obama and his union bosses" of creating the economic mess and standing in the way of reform, supposedly as part of a larger claim that Obama is supporting public employees because they will pump money into his 2012 campaign coffers.

On the left, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee has sought to land a counterpunch with an ad that accuses Walker of enacting "class warfare" and an "attack on the middle class" with his anti-union budget proposal. The spot includes interviews with demonstrators at Wisconsin's capitol building in Madison, who allege that Walker has sought to redirect the tax burden away from corporations and the wealthy and onto public employees.

America's Families First, a left-leaning third party organization, has meanwhile gone to bat for Wisconsin unions with an ad that highlights Walker's controversial prank phone call with a liberal blogger claiming to be billionaire conservative benefactor David Koch. The ad portrays Walker as uncompromising and intent on stripping public workers of their rights.

Comments

[Bryan Boru]

04:02 PM on 03/08/2011

The Democrats definitely have the better ad. I think the first side to use the phrase "The War On Working Families" got a leg up in the debate.

[Darrell Borza]

10:26 PM on 03/05/2011

You have much to learn about LEADERS -
Leaders are not elected, politicians are. Politician is a career choice. Leaders rise from circumstances according to the need, not by their own choice. Leaders are established in a setting by courage and fearlessness in the face of great odds and seemingly impossible circumstance .
Leaders direct their will to the majority by seeing genuine need and addressing it. They do not buy their positions are allow it to be bought. They do not sell their trust to the highest bidder or conduct their leadership in secret, they are transparent. Visibility = honesty. Leaders are generally reluctant to accept the mantle - they do not run to it like a spoiled child to the center ring of attention, the do not need to campaign their attributes, they are selected for them. They neither require presenting the dishonesty of their opponents as people are well aware of them.
Leaders walk silently often in deep contemplation because they care about what their actions will cause to the people that entrusted them. They care more for those that chose him than himself, regardless of the outcome of his own life. leaders do not demand that people bow to his thinking, but reflects the desires of them, steeled by their resolve. Leaders have foresight caring what the action sin the present cause for generations. They do not make the people prove their value, he must prove himself.

[m1jones]

10:06 PM on 03/03/2011

My support is with the government employees and the unions on these issues. Their ads are not as successful as the Republican sponsored ads. This does not bode well for the protestors.

The Democrats' ads should end with how the viewer can help. The adds are too soft and not hard hitting. Obama is a master at media. Why are these ads so poor? What are the Democrats doing? Don't they realize how important this battle is to the future of the Democratic Party?

[andyc1110]

10:47 PM on 03/03/2011

I concur. The republican ads are full of data (slanted data, but data). The progressive (not Democrat) ad is just emotion. The facts are on the side of the worker. The deficit is the result of tax cuts (rightly or wrongly) being given during a recession, not the unions. There is no need for union busting. Government leaders should work WITH the unions to find ways labor can help during this time of crisis. Instead, bully tactics are being used.

Walker will win the battle, but will be put out with the trash quickly. Does he think people will forget when massive pay cuts accompany the busting of the unions? The people will remember when their friends, neighbors, and relatives lose their houses. (BTW - that'll be great for housing values) Everyone will remember this as what happened when the unions were busted. The unions will recover and Walker will go down as a fool who overplayed his hand.

[riverwester]

11:06 AM on 03/03/2011

AFP has spent $400,000 dollars on Walker support since he revealed his budget repair bill. Can you remember a time in history EVER when an elected official in office less than 2 months has had to have that kind of outside help? And now they are sponsoring a scott walker bus tour this next weekend? guess the real david koch is following through on walkers request for "messaging". they clearly underestimate the intelligence of the people of WI. this bus tour will be an EPIC fail. though fox news will lie about that ;)

[blorenzo]

06:10 PM on 03/03/2011

What is even more frustrating is the people who are pushing pro-walker (conservative organization Americans for Prosperity) ads don't even live in Wisconsin. I bet they have businesses in Wisconsin, base it in Delaware so they can avoid paying taxes and use their Wisconsin facilities as a write off. It appears they have something financial to gain if this law passes besides getting over with tax breaks!

[dtlewis]

10:13 AM on 03/03/2011

If you do choose to stand with this sad sack, you should do so in full public view. That way we can all see clearly exactly who you are. What's that you say; you prefer to do your thieving from the shadows? Why of course, how silly of me to think you'd have character enough to carry out your dirty work in the light of day. I thought the collective intelligence of the public had hit bottom hard enough when it seated B43 in the White House. And you still think it's a good idea to gut public education so it can be made a for profit industry. Maybe you're right, a lot of folks just seem hopelessly uneducable.

[FatFeline]

03:33 AM on 03/03/2011

And ad war! Great for employment. Think of all the people kept fully employed by the generation and publishing of these ads.

[wdw808]

05:30 AM on 03/03/2011

agreed

[satanlite]

10:14 AM on 03/03/2011

Yuppers.

[farmilyman]

01:24 AM on 03/03/2011

Why does Walker always look tipsy?

[satanlite]

10:15 AM on 03/03/2011

Put a bowling ball in a bushel basket, strap the basket firmly to the top of your head, and try to walk and talk.

[Dissident Dexter]

01:02 AM on 03/03/2011

high school diploma and still dumb as a stump - Scott Walker

[unwashedmasses]

12:42 AM on 03/03/2011

Yeah! At least somebody is making money. I hope they pay taxes. We need the revenue.

[himaui]

11:42 PM on 03/02/2011

How in the world does West Boro and the like have a constitutional right to picket and protest funerals, and teachers/fire/police/service are not allowed to have a reasonable, intelligent conversation about their profession?

Sick, sad day in America. What in the world are our grandkids and future generations going to think? That we were smoking hallucinogenic drugs?

[Tom Fennell]

03:15 PM on 03/09/2011

No. They will think that slick media bombardment lulled far too many people into a fantasy world where they identified more with problems and aspiratoins of affluent people than with their own reality -- including induling in distain at the little people staking their claims to fair remuneration for their work.

[wespenn56]

11:42 PM on 03/02/2011

Hopefully the sane people of the great state of Wisconsin will notice the people in the ads pro Walker are slick, Madison Avenue types, while the pro union people are actual Wisconsonians (hope that's correct).

[unwashedmasses]

12:43 AM on 03/03/2011

Wisconsinites - but your heart is in the right place!

[wespenn56]

03:39 AM on 03/03/2011

Tks for the education. No offenses meant.

[andyc1110]

10:50 PM on 03/03/2011

I kind of like Wisconsononians.

[serialcoma]

10:51 PM on 03/02/2011

I am constantly saddened but not surprised that the GOP base is consistently manipulated into voting against its own interests by the wealthy of this nation...  when you more worried about whether not someone is sleeping with a member of the same sex....  or whether or not someone professes a belief in your chosen religion.... or whether a person believes they have more rights to make decisions about their own reproductive system than the government you have crossed a threshold into inanity that almost certainly guarantees that you have abdicated your free will and have no respect for the free will of others.

The vast majority of citizens support liberal economic policies which benefit the middle class but the GOP base will vote against it every time if you support the rights of individuals over the rights of corporations and the top one tenth of one percent ... truly amazing and certain to lead to the demise of our nation.

[Republinator]

12:06 AM on 03/03/2011

Excellent points! Hopefully, though, people will wake up and it will lead to the decline of the GOP.

[SwimUpstream]

10:27 PM on 03/02/2011

An ad war is good for the advertising economy