The Cincinnati Enquirer is examining campaign advertising -- putting the claims, the messages and the targets in perspective.
THE AD: A 30-second TV ad paid for by the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) to support Republican incumbent Steve Chabot in Ohio's 1st Congressional District. It is part of "Operation Breakout," a $37 million nationwide ad blitz aimed at key House races.
In the ad, an actress portrays a woman dropping her son off at school.
"My son just started the first grade," she says. "And I worry about the education he is getting."
She goes on to praise congressional Republicans for supporting "smaller class sizes, better teachers and involved parents." "The Republican plan for teacher testing and smaller class sizes makes a lot of sense to me," she says.
At the end of the commercial, Mr. Chabot's Cincinnati district office number is flashed on the screen and an announcer asks viewers to call him and "tell him to keep working for teacher testing and smaller class sizes."
THE PERSPECTIVE:
Both candidates in the 1st District race, Mr. Chabot and Ms. Qualls, say they support hiring another 100,000 teachers nationwide over the next five years as a way of reducing class sizes.
The $520 billion budget agreement worked out between the Clinton administration and Republican congressional leaders last week included $1.2 billion in funding for local school districts around the country to start hiring new teachers.
Mr. Chabot did not vote for the budget bill, which both Democrats and Republicans say would help reduce class sizes. He opposed the bill for other reasons.
Democrats such as Ms. Qualls argue that a vote against the budget bill was a vote against reducing class sizes.
