Article published October 22, 2008
Cartoon moose ad welcoming Palin on 2-day Ohio trip
A long line of people wait before sunrise to see Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin at the University of Findlay on Wednesday.
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THE BLADE/DAVE ZAPOTOSKY
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By TOM TROY
BLADE POLITICS WRITER
A commercial featuring a talking moose describing Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin as "trigger-happy" is to air on CBS, NBC, and ABC network television stations in Toledo today as the Alaska governor arrives to start a two-day campaign trip in Ohio.
Mrs. Palin's plane arrived late last night at Toledo Express Airport, and her staff, security, and traveling media entourage then spent the night at the Park Inn in downtown.
She is to speak in the Koehler Recreation Center at the University of Findlay at 9 a.m. today.
A spokesman for the liberal interest group MoveOn.org said its ad poking fun, but with a serious subtext, will run on all three TV stations today, as well as in Cleveland and Cincinnati.
The cartoon moose head, mounted as a hunter's trophy above a fireplace, criticizes Mrs. Palin's alleged ignorance of foreign affairs, and says, "You really gotta question John McCain's judgment pickin' Sarah Palin as his VP."
"She may be a little trigger-happy," the moose says of the governor, who's a hunter. "I should know."It was unclear last night whether suddenly famous Toledo-area plumber Samuel "Joe the Plumber" Wurzelbacher will make an appearance at the Palin rally today.
Mr. Wurzelbacher has said he likes Mrs. Palin and is registered as a Republican but has not endorsed Mr. McCain for president.
"Joe the Plumber has an open invitation to attend any of our events," said Paul Lindsay, Ohio spokesman for the McCain-Palin campaign.
The MoveOn.org ads began airing on one station the same day that Toledo Democrats held a news conference to condemn the negative tone of the Republican campaign.
Lucas County Commissioner Tina Skeldon Wozniak and Treasurer Wade Kapszukiewicz called on the McCain campaign to offer economic solutions.
"Lucas County is a good example of a corner of the country that is suffering with high unemployment rates, high foreclosure rates, and [voters] need to hear the issues that concern them, and instead it's these constant fear tactics that prevail," Ms. Wozniak said.
Democrats have complained about an automated phone message that says "Barack Obama has worked closely with domestic terrorist Bill Ayers, whose organization bombed the U.S. Capitol, the Pentagon, a judge's home, and killed Americans."
Mr. Ayers, a member of the 1960s and 1970s radical group Weather Underground, and now a college professor, sat on two boards with Mr. Obama and had a "meet and greet" party at his home early in Mr. Obama's political career.
Mr. Lindsay defended the McCain campaign's so-called robo-calls.
"If Barack Obama cannot be straightforward with the American people about his relationship with unrepentant terrorist Bill Ayers and ACORN, how can we trust him to be straightforward about his plans for the economy and our national security," Mr. Lindsay said.
Senator Obama, in the last televised debate with Mr. McCain, explained in detail the nonprofit boards he previously held seats on with Mr. Ayers, and once again repudiated the actions of Mr. Ayers and the Weather Underground group when Mr. Obama was 8 years old and living in Hawaii.
Jon Stainbrook, Lucas County Republican chairman, said, "The Obama campaign and his surrogates have made numerous attacks on John McCain that Barack Obama himself has never repudiated."
He said accusing Mr. Obama of planning to raise taxes on small-business owners is a legitimate issue.
Mr. Kapszukiewicz said Mr. Obama has no plans to raise taxes on people earning less than $250,000 and to say otherwise is a lie.
Chris Redfern, the state Democratic Party chairman, told of the MoveOn.org ad just after Democratic calls for the Republican Party to tone down the personal attacks, said, "I wish they wouldn't do that."
"If you live in places like Akron or in Troy or in Cincinnati you understand that the issues facing families have to do with paying your rent, paying your mortgage, finding health care, making sure your kids have a chance to get a job," Mr. Redfern said.
Ilyse Hogue, communications director for MoveOn.org, said the 4.2-million-member organization doesn't coordinate with the Democratic Party.
"As Sarah Palin is going into the swing states it's really important to remind voters that their concerns about her foreign policy experience are credible, and we think a moose from her home state is a great way to do that," Ms. Hogue said.
Mr. McCain remains locked in a neck-and-neck race with Mr. Obama in battleground Ohio, an essential state for Mr. McCain to win to claim the White House.
The Rasmussen-Fox poll, conducted Oct. 19, had Mr. McCain, a senator from Arizona, leading Illinois Senator Obama 49-47, a reversal from one week earlier.
But the daily nationwide tracking poll by Zogby International yesterday had Mr. Obama ahead of Mr. McCain 50 percent to 42 percent, with the momentum toward Mr. Obama, especially among independent voters.
All of Mrs. Palin's campaign appearances are in traditional Republican territory.
Mike DeWine, chairman of Mr. McCain's campaign in Ohio, noted that Mr. McCain was in Democratic Franklin and Lucas counties on Sunday.
"We're hitting the major areas of the state.
"There is no part of the state that's being ignored," Mr. DeWine said.
Mrs. Palin meets up with Mr. McCain in Green, Ohio, in Summit County, and ends the day at 5:30 p.m. at a rally in Cincinnati.
Mr. McCain will then depart Ohio for Pennsylvania while Mrs. Palin will appear at a rally in Troy, Ohio, north of Dayton.
Contact Tom Troy at:
tomtroy@theblade.com
or 419-724-6058.
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