BY SANDY THEIS
Enquirer Columbus Bureau
COLUMBUS -- Oops. Democrat Lee Fisher got an accidental preview of a campaign commercial critical of him when a Cleveland TV station aired the ad before its scheduled date.
The 30-second spot is the first negative ad of the governor's race -- so far.
A spokesman for Republican Bob Taft said the campaign distributed the commercial to TV stations with the understanding they would air sometime down the road.
"A final decision has not been made whether or not it will run," Taft spokesman Brett Buerck said Saturday.
Still, a Taft campaign adviser told The Cincinnati Enquirer -->Friday that a spot critical of Mr. Fisher's law-enforcement record had been prepared and would air in the very near future.
When such a spot appeared Friday evening, word quickly spread through the Fisher campaign because both Mr. Fisher and his wife, Peggy, saw it.
The ad criticizes Mr. Fisher for increasing the public relations staff during his days as Ohio attorney general but cutting the staff at the Bureau of Criminal Identification & Investigation. The agency provides assistance to local law enforcement.
"This trickery with the numbers was discredited in 1994, and it's going to be discredited in 1998," said Alan Melamed, Mr. Fisher's campaign chairman.
Insteading of cutting the number of BCI&I agents, Mr. Fisher transferred those charged with handling environmental investigations from the police agency to the office's environmental section, he said.
"There was no drop in personnel, there was a shift in personnel," Mr. Melamed said.
Both campaigns have been laying claim to the tough-on-crime label. Mr. Fisher can point to his record as attorney general. Mr. Taft can point to his endorsement by the Fraternal Order of Police. The Taft campaign offered the Fisher campaign a deal, Mr. Melamed said.
"Brett said, "We won't make an issue out of your ad that ran last week if you don't make an issue out of this one,' " Mr. Melamed said.
Last week, a Dayton TV station accidentally ran a commercial that Mr. Fisher had aired during the primary.
Everyone already knows the content of the primary spot, Mr. Melamed said. But the Taft ad, he said, "is news."
Mr. Buerck said no "deal" was offered. "We just made it clear to them that an ad of theirs ran by accident, too."
