THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 12, 1995 TAG: 9510120368
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY WARREN FISKE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines
Tom Brokaw and Katie Couric weren't the only people surprised by O.J. Simpson's sudden withdrawal from a national television interview Wednesday night.
Republican legislative candidates had planned to use Simpson's much-awaited appearance on NBC's ``Dateline'' to unveil a commercial in Norfolk and Roanoke accusing Democrats of obstructing the goals of Gov. George F. Allen.
The GOP quickly pulled the ad from ``Dateline'' after learning Simpson had changed his plans.
``The idea is to get as many people as possible to watch the ad,'' said Scott Leake, executive director of the General Assembly's Joint Republican Caucus. When Simpson dropped out, Leake said, a GOP media consultant decided that ``the cost of going on `Dateline' just wasn't worth it.''
Instead, Leake said the GOP will try to buy prime time slots to air the commercial in Virginia during the major league baseball playoffs this week. Despite the flap with Simpson, the commercial still was scheduled to debut Wednesday in many areas of the state - including Norfolk and Roanoke - during local newscasts.
The GOP planned to launch the spot on Wednesday before knowing about the Simpson interview. When Simpson's plans to go public were announced earlier this week, Leake said the GOP snapped up 30 seconds of airtime just prior to the start of ``Dateline'' because ``half the state would be watching.''
The commercial contains split-screen footage of House Speaker Thomas J. Moss Jr. pounding a gavel on the left, and President Clinton pounding his fist on a podium on the right with Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., looking on.
``Democrats have said `no' to George Allen's agenda,'' an announcer says. ``No to tax-and-spending cuts, no to giving lottery profits to localities, no to keeping violent criminals in prison.'' The announcer urges viewers to vote for Republicans on Nov. 7.
Democrats have opposed Allen's tax cuts and lottery plans, arguing that they would come at the expense of education funding.
But it may be a bit of hyperbole to say Democrats oppose keeping violent criminals in prison. Democrats supported Allen's 1994 effort to abolish parole. But they allowed Allen to borrow only a fourth of the $409 million he sought earlier this year to build prisons.
Allen claims that the Democrats' actions indicate that they do not intend to build the cell space necessary for the no-parole plan to work. Democrats say the state was not ready last winter to build all of Allen's proposed prisons and that additional funding will become available as planning proceeds.
Republicans plan to spend $100,000 airing the commercial over the next seven to 10 days. The money was raised by the Republican caucus and by six GOP legislators.
KEYWORDS: CAMPAIGN ADVERTISING ELECTION by CNB