Cleland ad causes trouble for Chambliss

With Sen. John McCain returning to the campaign trail on Thursday on stump for Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss in his runoff race in Georgia, Democrats are reminding voters and donors of a controversial ad aired by Chambliss in the heated final weeks of the 2002 campaign that shows pictures of Democratic Sen. Max Cleland, a triple-amputee from wounds suffered during his service in Vietnam, just after shots of Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein.

The ad — which has a voice-over warning that, "As Americans face terrorists and extremist dictators, Max Cleland runs television ads saying he has the courage to lead," then lists votes where the Democrat opposed President Bush before concluding that "the record proves Max Cleland is just misleading" — helped propel Chambliss to an unexpected victory.


"I'd never seen anything like that ad," McCain said at the time of the spot, which was widely condemned by Democrats. Putting pictures of Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden next to the picture of a man who left three limbs on the battlefield is "worse than disgraceful," said McCain. "It's reprehensible.”

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee released a Web ad ahead of the Arizona senator’s visit titled “Disgraceful,” reminding voters of McCain’s 2002 response, and also issued a fundraising letter from Cleland where he writes, “In 2002, Saxby Chambliss won his Senate seat in the final days by putting my picture next to Osama bin Laden and lying about me,” Cleland wrote. “It was despicable, but it worked. This year, we can’t let Chambliss use the same vile tactics to defeat Democratic challenger Jim Martin.

“Sen. Chambliss has his good pal, John McCain, to stand by his side and speak truth about his character,” the text of the ad reads before highlighting McCain’s comment. “It looks like even Sen. Chambliss’ buddy, John McCain, agrees. Georgians deserve better,” the ad concludes. A call to McCain's Senate office asking for comment on the 2002 ad was not returned by the time this article was posted.

Chambliss told MSNBC on Monday that "we're just very pleased to have [McCain] coming in on Thursday of this week.”

"If Cleland had won, you’d never have heard a thing about it," Chambliss told Politico in response to a question about the 2002 spot. "That ad is so mild compared to the ads I’ve seen in campaign after campaign since 2002. Plus, the ad was truthful.”

“They lost," he added. "They're always going to be bitter about it."

DSCC spokesman Matthew Miller said that while the 2002 ad "is not what [this year's] race is about, there is still certainly some resentment” among Democrats over it.

“There is still a lot of animosity from Democrats directed at Saxby for that, and deservedly so,” Georgia Democratic Party spokesman Martin Mathen said. “It was a low blow.”

Both ActBlue and Daily Kos have spotlighted the ad in fundraising drives for Jim Martin, Chambliss’ Democratic opponent this year.

“I encourage you to give to Jim Martin’s campaign,” reads one fundraising e-mail to ActBlue donors. “Jim is running for the Georgia Senate seat against Saxby Chambliss. Perhaps you remember Saxby for his cynical, dishonest campaign against Max Cleland six years ago.”

National Republican Senatorial Committee spokeswoman Rebecca Fisher chastised Democrats for dwelling on 2002.

"The Chambliss campaign is focused on the future of Georgia and this nation. If Jim Martin and national Democrats want to focus on the past, that's his choice. Georgians have real problems that Sen. Chambliss working to solve," she said.

The NRSC hit Martin in the final week of this year's general election with an ad accusing the Democrat of voting against tougher penalties for those caught soliciting child prostitutes.



Despite lingering resentment among Georgia Democrats, Martin’s campaign has not frequently mentioned the 2002 ad.

It's not talked about at all in the local media,” said Charles Bullock, a political science professor at the University of Georgia. He added that, despite the national scorn for the ad, “it worked in Georgia.”

“This is a new election. We’re focused on the concerns of Georgia voters and not some ad Saxby ran in 2002,” Martin told Politico, adding, “Still, the fact remains that this was an extremely negative campaign that he ran against a war hero.”

While Martin has criticized Chambliss for using “inappropriate” tactics in the 2002 race, he's mostly tried to stick to his economy-focused message.

Polls throughout the summer showed the Democrat trailing by over 20 percent. It wasn’t until the markets crashed in September and Chambliss made a very unpopular vote in favor of the $700 billion bailout that the Democrat began to close.

On the trail, Martin frequently links Chambliss to Bush on the economy and blasts the Republican’s record on veterans’ issues. The Democrat has not retooled his message for the Dec. 2 runoff and is not planning to make a push over the infamous ad.

Still, Martin has not forgotten the fate of his fellow Democrat Cleland.

“Personal attacks are how Saxby has always operated,” he said. “McCain was right when he gave him a hard time about that ad. I think he was right in 2002 and I think the facts are the same now.”

Josh Kraushaar contributed to this story.