The Boston Globe        
Ad watch / Dole Campaign
By Peter S. Canellos, Globe Staff, 12/12/95
>        
>        The first New Hampshire television ad for Senate Majority Leader
>        Bob Dole, a 30-second spot touting Dole's work on behalf of a
>        balanced budget.
>        
>        Script: (announcer) ``Remember how Bill Clinton promised New
>        Hampshire a balanced budget plan? A middle class tax cut? He never
>        delivered. But today, Bob Dole's leadership is bringing true
>        conservative change, the first balanced budget plan in a
>        generation, a $500 per child tax cut, saving New Hampshire
>        taxpayers $100 million per year. While others talk, Bob Dole
>        leads. Bob Dole, the character and courage to lead America.''
>        
>        Is it accurate?
>        
>        The question of how much Dole is responsible for the budget plans
>        approved by Congress is a matter of dispute. Unquestionably, Dole,
>        as majority leader, is a substantial force on any bill emerging
>        from the Senate. Yet one of his rivals, Sen. Phil Gramm, issued a
>        press release claiming that Dole actually helped reduce the tax
>        cut passed by the House, from $354 billion in the House bill to
>        $254 billion in the Senate plan. Dole's camp, however, contends
>        that without his leadership the Senate would never have passed
>        such a substantial tax cut.
>        
>        Is it effective?
>        
>        The ad opens with a shot of President Clinton's inauguration,
>        followed by the statement, ``He never delivered.'' Then, as the
>        announcer touts Dole's accomplishments, pictures of Dole and his
>        wife, Elizabeth, scroll by. Most of them are standard campaign
>        shots featuring smiling children and older people.
>        
>        The ad is hardly memorable but buttresses one of the key claims of
>        Dole's candidacy - he's a more seasoned, capable, upstanding
>        figure than the younger and less disciplined Clinton. Whether that
>        will be enough to persuade Republicans that Dole is their best
>        possible nominee remains to be seen.
>        
>        Air Date: Running, starting last weekend in New Hampshire.
>        
>        This story ran on page 22 of the Boston Globe on 12/12/95.