The Gamut

Los Angeles Times: When the Mud Flies This Time, Bush Can't Duck:

His positive spots had been on the air for barely a week when his campaign began firing electronic cruise missiles at presumed Democratic nominee Sen. John Kerry. And every single one of those bash-and-trash ads, thanks to the new federal campaign finance law passed in 2002, now has to include Bush's own Good Housekeeping seal of approval. "I'm George Bush," the president says on each one, "and I approve this message."

Just a quick observation, but I've noticed that on Bush's negative ads, he puts the mandatory "I approved this ad" at the beginning. While on his positive ads, he puts it at the end.

Kerry probably does the same, but I haven't noticed. Anyway, here is my thought. The whole statement is so geeky and distracting, the candidates should split it up. For example, on his next "negative ad", Kerry could open with, "The following ad meets my approval," or, "I approved this message," but he shouldn't use his name. Then after the ad, he could come back on and say, "I'm John Kerry, and I think America deserves better." That way, he meets all of the criteria under the law, and he still ends on a positive beat.

It's a minor thing, but unfortunately, these things matter these days.

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