Isles to get taste
of Kerry blitz

Democrats will unveil new
TV ads in Hawaii in the wake
of a new poll showing a virtual tie

Democrats are spending $200,000 in last-minute television ads to shore up Hawaii for Sen. John Kerry, the Democratic presidential candidate.

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Two weekend polls showed Kerry and President Bush in a virtual tie in Hawaii, which had been counted as a strong Democratic state.

Ellen Moran, independent expenditures director with the Democratic National Committee, touted a new 30-second television ad during a conference call from Washington yesterday, saying the spot will air immediately on all Hawaii television stations.

"We wanted to show Hawaii voters that we are not taking them for granted, we are not taking the state for granted," Moran said.

Asked if the Democrats would have run the ad if the two polls, including the Honolulu Star-Bulletin KITV 4 poll, taken Oct. 17-20, which showed Bush ahead of Kerry by 1 percentage point, hadn't appeared, Moran said she didn't know.

"Certainly we read the newspapers and look at your polling. Certainly that was part of our decision-making.

"We haven't done a lot of advertising in Hawaii and we are confident that if the voters are exposed to these messages, they will choose John Kerry," Morgan said.

The ad questions why voters would want Bush, saying he has cut taxes for the wealthy, spent too much, caused health care costs to increase and presided over "the most jobs lost in 75 years."

Republican Gov. Linda Lingle said she thought the ad shows that the Democrats are out of touch with what's happening in Hawaii.

"They are Washington, DC-based. We have the highest job growth of any state, we have the lowest unemployment rate in the nation.

"I hope they run that spot ... Kerry obviously doesn't have any feel for our state at all," Lingle said in an informal news conference yesterday.

Moran, who four years ago ran an independent campaign for the Democratic congressional campaign committee, said the TV spot is part of a last minute national television blitz in battleground states that both Kerry and Bush need in order to win the presidency.

Asked why the ad was focusing on job losses when Hawaii has such a low unemployment rate, Moran said it should still attract voters in Hawaii.

"We believe Hawaiians care about the national job losses, Hawaii has lost some manufacturing jobs as well," Moran said.

Lingle, who is head of the Hawaii for Bush campaign, said she has not been told if the GOP would respond with its own ads. So far, the only national GOP presence in Hawaii was a visit by Bush a year ago.

Lingle meanwhile said she is spending all her spare time campaigning for local legislative candidates, saying she went door to door last weekend in Ewa Beach, Waipahu, Nanakuli and the North Shore.