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The Candidate: First District Congressman Tom Allen (D), running for the U.S. Senate seat now held by Susan Collins (R).
Ad title: "Worst"
Length:30 Seconds
Produced by:Tad Devine of Devine Mulvey, based in Washington, D.C. |
Narrator: |
It's been called the worst economic crisis since the 30’s with no end in sight. |
On the Screen: |
Wall Street Journal 9/18/08, "Worst Crisis Since '30's, With No End Yet in Sight." |
Narrator: |
How did we get here? For the last eight years, George Bush and Republicans in Congress have crippled America's economy. Susan Collins supported 100% of the Bush economic policies that hurt Maine and created a national crisis. |
On the Screen: |
"Portland Press Herald Editorial 4/25/03 & Temple Beth El debate 9/21/08"
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Narrator: |
It's time for a change. |
Tom Allen: |
This election is about a simple choice. If you want to change the direction of the country, we need to change the leadership in Washington. I'm Tom Allen and I approve this message |
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MPBN's Barbara Cariddi researched the claims made in this political advertisement by Tom Allen (D) in his campaign to challenge the U.S. Senate seat held by Susan Collins (R). |
"Wall Street Journal 9/18/08, 'Worst Crisis Since '30's, With No End Yet in Sight.'" |
In a Wall Street Journal story dated September 18, 2008, Mark Gertler, a New York University economist, is quoted as saying: "This has been the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. There is no question about it." He's quoted as adding: "But at the same time we have the policy mechanisms in place fighting it, which is something we didn't have during the Great Depression."
Gertler is not alone in this view, which is shared by several government observers, including New York Times op-ed columnist Paul Krugman. Whether that view will pan out over time is impossible to gauge, but Allen's ad appears to accurately assess the threat.
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"Susan Collins supported 100% of the Bush economic policies that hurt Maine and created a national crisis." |
Allen's campaign is basing this assertion on Collins' support for the Bush administration's tax cut packages enacted in 2001, 2003 and 2006. Collins supported them all; Allen voted against them all. If Allen is claiming that Collins is the only member of Maine's delegation to support all three tax cut packages, that is true. Senator Olympia Snowe supported the first round of cuts, but opposed the last two. Second District Congressman Michael Michaud was not a member of Congress in 2001 (he was first elected in 2002) and thus he did not vote on the first package. But Michaud did oppose the last two.
The effect of these measures on Maine taxpayers and the national economy is still a matter of debate. However, a study last year by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office concluded that, in general, the legislation has benefited the wealthiest Americans the most. The study was reported in the New York Times last year.
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"Temple Beth El debate 9/21/08" |
The two candidates participated in a debate at Temple Beth El in Portland on September 21, 2008. Here's a transcript of what Collins said in the debate about her support for the Bush tax cut packages: |
"I am proud to have supported the 2001 and 2003 tax relief packages. Those two bills provided tax relief for more than a half a million Maine taxpayers. For a family of four earning only 40 thousand dollars a year, that tax bill, which Tom voted against and is proud to have voted against, provided them with a 2 thousand dollar tax cut. That was very much appreciated and needed. He also voted against the 2003 bill, which not only had relief from the marriage tax penalty, but expanded the tax credit for families with children, removed low income individuals from the tax rolls, provided tax incentives for small businesses, and included a state fiscal relief package which I negotiated, that provided 160 million dollars to the state of Maine, but Tom voted against all of that. We do have a fundamental disagreement on taxes. I think you people pay too much by way of taxes, and I think they deserve tax relief."
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Susan Collins, Temple Beth El, 9/21/08
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Here's what Allen had to say on the same subject: |
"The Bush economic policies have done enormous damage in Maine and America, enormous damage. In 2001 and 2003 and 2006, they presented these packages, and when I say packages, I mean packages. They were all dressed up with ribbons and bows and gold bullion on the inside for the very, very wealthy. And the ribbons and bows and the pretty packaging was all for the middle class. And what happened is it was so distorted that it has driven us to the brink of this financial catastrophe and has turned (inaudible) from a creditor nation to a debtor nation, where in order to simply fund the federal government, we have to sell 40 percent of our treasury notes to China and Asia and Europeans and Middle Eastern countries who are often not our friends. Those were huge mistakes and we are paying a terrible financial price for it now. I have fought and voted over and over again for tax cuts for the middle class, dropping the bottom rate, getting rid of the marriage tax, expanding the child tax credit, but not when they're wrapped in a big package where there is so much going to the very wealthy."
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Tom Allen, Temple Beth El, 9/21/08
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"Bush economic policies that hurt Maine and created a national crisis." |
The extent to which Bush's economic policies have hurt Maine and nation's economy is the subject of fierce debate. But many analysts blame much of the current crisis on lax federal regulation and a lack of oversight of the government-backed mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
In 2005 a bill was introduced in Congress to tighten regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Congressman Allen voted in favor of the House version, H.R. 1461. But the Senate version, S. 190, died in the chamber's Banking Committee, so how Senator Collins would have voted on it is unknown.
Another oft-cited contributor to the current financial crisis is deregulation of the banking industry and the erosion of the depression-era Glass-Steagall reforms aimed at safeguarding depositors and investors. The erosion has occurred over time, most recently with the passage of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, sponsored by former Texas Senator Phil Gramm, a one-time economic advisor to Senator John McCain's campaign. The Act allowed the consolidation of commercial and investment banks and was signed into law by President Clinton in 1999.
Congressman Allen and Senator Collins both voted for the measure, which had wide bipartisan support. As the New York Times points out, economists disagree on the legislation's contribution to the current crisis.
A more significant contributor, some say, was the so-called Commodity Futures Modernization Act, also sponsored by Gramm, which allowed stocks to be traded like commodities. The measure was included in a federal appropriations bill signed into law by President Clinton in 2000. Congressman Allen and Senator Collins both voted in favor of the final appropriations bill which contained the measure.
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Amy Fried
University of Maine
- Associate Professor of Political Science
- Associate Dean for Research in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
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Most of the ads Representative Allen ran over the summer focused on his biography and his positions. In addition, they had a rather soft tone. In contrast, this is a hard-hitting ad that emphasizes what every election involving an incumbent is about -- the incumbent’s record and relationships. It is stark in its graphics, pictures, and message. While it is a tough ad, it focuses on votes and political positions, not on trivial or personal matters. Voters are asked to weigh in on an extremely consequential issue, the direction of the country.
Typically the party in power suffers electoral losses when the economy is bad. Senator Collins has done well in Maine because she has been seen as moderate and as distinct from the national Republican party and its leadership. Allen’s campaign is attempting to change the image Maine voters have of Collins and to persuade them that Collins has supported the currently unpopular president and the policies that they argue have led to poor economic conditions. With its emphasis on change, George Bush and the economy, this could be an ad by the Obama campaign. For Allen to win, he must convince Maine voters that Collins is part of the problem and that he would pursue a different path; this ad promotes that core argument.
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Ron Schmidt
University of Southern Maine
- Associate Professor of Political Science
- Specialties: Political Theory, Racial and Ethnic Politics and Urban Politics.
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Tom Allen's ad, 'Worst,' represents a noteworthy shift in his campaign strategy. Thus far, Allen's message has emphasized biographical information; this makes sense as an introduction to voters in Maine's Second Congressional District, but it has been rather lackluster both in regard to specific issues and to Senator Collins' record. Indeed, the Senator's ads have acknowledged as much, taking defensive positions against "Tom Allen's friends," the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
"Worst," on the contrary, is much more in line with the national Democratic campaign, aligning Allen with the theme of 'change' and depicting Collins as part of the problems of the Bush Administration, the economic strategy of de-regulation, and the current fiscal crisis. Perhaps more significantly, the ad positions Collins as out of touch with Maine's needs. The senator's support in Maine draws on her reputation as a non-ideological politician who can tend to the needs of specific communities in the state; associating her with the national Republican Party and the Bush Administration's economic record is a direct attack on that profile. (Allen's website goes further, identifying Collins as "the ONLY Member of the Maine Delegation to Support All of Bush's Lopsided Economic Policies.")
The ad was produced by Tad Devine, who worked with the Gore and Kerry campaigns, and seems to respond to the Democratic Party's sense of urgency in winning a safe majority in the Senate; and while it has less of a local focus than previous spots showing Allen with friends and family at Becky's Diner in Portland, it emphasizes the link between national economic crises and the lives of people in Maine. Whether the new tone will work with Maine voters, and, even if it does, whether it has come in time, remains to be seen.
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