In just a few days’ time, the special election in the 20th Congressional District has undergone a marked change. A Thursday, March 12 Siena Research Institute poll indicated that Republican James Tedisco’s lead over Democrat Scott Murphy had narrowed to just four points, altering the tone taken by political pundits and affecting the tenor of Tedisco’s campaign overnight.
Tedisco is now indicating he will run a more positive campaign, and his campaign ads released since then, along with the tone of his arguments, indicate he is striving to play up his good points rather than expose his opponent’s flaws.
He’s going to make sure the record is reflecting his record as a public servant and his positive accomplishments, said Joshua Fitzpatrick, a Tedisco campaign spokesman. `He wants to make sure, going forward, that the emphasis is there.`
The Siena poll also indicated the importance of television advertising in winning over the vital 13 percent of likely voters that still remain undecided. The poll indicates that 86 percent of those polled have seen or heard a Tedisco ad, while 80 percent have seen one for Murphy. While half or more of the voters in each category say a candidate’s ads will not affect them, Murphy’s ads won voters over rather than turn them away, 28 to 20 percent. With Tedisco’s spots, on the other hand, just 12 percent said they would be more likely to support him based on the ads, while 28 percent said the ads would make their support less likely.
Although that data could reflect a number of factors, on the surface it is clear that Tedisco’s ads were unsuccessful, at least according to these voters. And while the candidate is striving to change that, elements of his party might not be so open to adjustments.
Fitzpatrick would not commit his candidate to running a `clean` campaign, but did indicate that if mud is being slung in the future, voters should know it did not originate in the Tedisco camp.
`He’s going to make sure that if someone is trying to distort his record, that the record is set straight,` added Fitzpatrick.
Part of setting that record straight was Tedisco’s straight answer on how he would have voted on the recently passed federal recovery package ` he would have voted `no.` The answer came on Monday, March 16, after the Murphy campaign had called into question his non-answers on the issue for weeks.
Tedisco criticized the pork in the stimulus package and his campaign has seized upon the assertion that `working families are mad as hell` about wasteful spending.
Murphy’s campaign wasted little time in reminding voters it took Tedisco so much time to review the stimulus bill.
`It’s just shameful that it took well over a month for Assemblyman Tedsico to finally admit that he’d vote ‘no’ on saving or creating 76,000 jobs in Upstate New York,` said Murphy.
But elections are not made of just two figures. National organizations with large bankrolls for both parties are running their own advertisements in the district ` the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and National Republican Congressional Committee are both dedicated to increasing their party’s representation in Congress, and with the hectic November elections behind them, they both have the time to concentrate on New York’s 20th.
Since ads began appearing in the election, the message presented by the RNCC has closely jibed with Tedisco’s officially sanctioned blurbs. Both presented Murphy as a fat cat businessman.
`Scott Murphy: Part of the Problem,` said a RNCC ad after insinuating that Murphy supported CEO bonuses for failing companies.
`Murphy’s just another Wall Street millionaire,` said an ad from the Tedisco campaign.
In both ads, Murphy is tied to the wealthy and exploitative financial market culture.
On the Democrat side, the messages also coincided.
From the DNCC on Tedisco: `Typical politics we just can’t afford.`
From Murphy: `Jim Tedisco: that’s an Albany politician for you.`
Tedisco’s ads have changed to remove direct attacks on his opponent. His latest two include talk about the economy and only mention Murphy in characterizing his own attacks as false.
But as Tedisco announced he would be running a new kind of campaign, RNCC spokesman Paul Lindsay had this to say:
`The NRCC has an obligation to hold Scott Murphy accountable for the past he is trying to hide as a Wall Street executive whose actions represent everything that has gone wrong with our economy. We have no plans to shirk our responsibilities.`
In addition, attention has turned to a National Republican Trust Political Action Committee ad that slams Murphy’s `radical agenda` and was pulled when its accuracy was called into question.
The Murphy campaign seems to be pleased with the results of the Siena poll that put a formerly underdog candidate just outside the margin of error, and indicate that they will forge ahead with the message that has been working.
`Our momentum keeps getting bigger and bigger,` said Murphy spokesman Ryan Rudominer. `The very last thing voters need during the current economic crisis is an erratic and combative career politician like Jim Tedisco in congress playing politics with voters.“