Randy Kuhl has a new ad [YouTube] running in the Rochester media market. I first saw it at 11 p.m. tonight on the NBC affiliate, WHEC. Rochesterturning saw it earlier this evening.
The ad is a response to the mistaken impression left by the first MoveOn ad that Kuhl voted for the initial Halliburton contract. It uses that mistake to call the ads a pack of lies, and it accuses Massa of buying into the ads.
Overall, this ad is a pretty good response. It uses the one weak point of the MoveOn ads to great effect. Then, it goes on the offense by making an accusation that Massa supports the ads. That's not true, since Massa's made no comment on the ads prior to Kuhl's response. But he also hasn't repudiated them, and Kuhl is baiting him to do so.
MoveOn's first ad was sloppy. Though some kind of Kuhl response was inevitable, MoveOn made his job easier, and Eric Massa's harder.
Here's full description of the ad:
On screen: A television running the beginning of the "dumping billions" ad.
Announcer: "Lies, Lies, Lies. The ads being run by the left-wing lobbying group moveon.org are simply that: Lies"
Screen text (white on black): "The votes took place in 2004"
Announcer: "The votes they talk about took place long before Randy Kuhl was elected to congress."
Screen text changes to: "Randy Kuhl took office in 2005".
Announcer: "They know that, but they'll say anything."
Picture of Eric Massa.
Announcer: "And their candidate, Eric Massa? Buys into every word, every lie."
Picture of Massa fades to Red.
Announcer: "Eric Massa and Moveon.org. They should be ashamed of themselves."
Kuhl appears and says: "I'm Randy Kuhl. You deserve the whole truth. That's why I approved this message."