For weeks, the only ads on Florida radio and TV were from Mitt Romney or the super PAC supporting him. But now that the primary has officially moved to the Sunshine State, the ad wars are heating up. Now, new ads are being released in a constant stream with fresh money buying up air time. What Floridians are seeing and hearing today is only round one.
The ads airing in Florida are a good window into what the candidates see as their winning arguments in the state. Newt Gingrich realized he had a winner on his hands with a spot he ran in South Carolina called “The Moment.” Now, it’s the first TV ad his campaign is putting on the air in Florida. The ad replays the moment from last Monday’s Fox News debate in which Gingrich stood by his claim that Obama is a ‘food stamp president,’ bringing the audience to its feet.
Newt also appears in ads he’d rather were not all over Florida TV. The Romney campaign has an attack ad up in Florida slamming Gingrich over his affiliation with Freddie Mac. “While Florida families lost everything in the housing crisis, Newt Gingrich cashed in,” an announcer says. “Gingrich was paid over $1.6 million by the scandal-ridden agency that helped create the crisis.” Florida has one of the highest foreclosure rates in the nation, and the two candidates are trying to get the upper hand by coming across as more sympathetic to suffering Floridians.
In addition to going after Gingrich, Romney — who has the most money at his disposal by far — is running ads to shore up his social conservative bona fides. A new radio ad Monday features Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi and founder of Women Affirming Life Mary Ann Glendon endorsing Romney for his economic conservatism and pro-life position.
There’s a whole other category of ads that didn’t exist in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina: Spanish language ads. Thus far only on radio, Romney and Gingrich both have Spanish language ads up as they reach out to Latino voters — who comprise a crucial 11% of Florida Republican voters. Romney’s latest ad features three Latino surrogates saying that Romney can create jobs. The ad also reaches out to the conservative-leaning Cuban population, promising Romney will “fight against the despotic efforts of Castro and Chavez.”
Gingrich’s ad reaches out to Latino voters by positioning the former speaker as the anti-Obama when it comes to job creation: “Barack Obama’s lack of experience has resulted in the failure of our economy,” says the announcer, “This Jan. 31, vote for Newt Gingrich, the only candidate with experience, leadership and an economic plan to recuperate our country that we so love.”
Of note in the Spanish language ads is that neither candidate is attacking each other, but is rather focused on Barack Obama. Thus far, that is probably playing to Romney’s favor since his extreme position on immigration issues (he has promised to veto the Dream Act, for example) would probably cost him votes when compared to Gingrich’s more moderate stance on immigration.
The award for the creepiest ad probably goes to the labor union AFSCME which has put up an ad attacking Mitt Romney. The ad links an incidence of medicare fraud in Romney’s past to the woefully-unpopular Florida gov. Rick Scott who presided over a multi-billion dollar Medicare fraud case. The ad literally shows Romney’s face turning into Scott’s.
Remember, this is nothing compared to what Floridians are likely to see over the next seven days. Total spent by Romney and Restore our future is $9 million, with another $5 million on the way, reports Politico. Gingrich’s resources paled in comparison until Monday, when wealthy casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, who already put $5 million into Gingrich’s South Carolina campaign effort through the super PAC Winning Our Future, pledged an additional $5 million in Florida.
There are now seven days left in which to spend $10 million between two candidates.