Anti-Bush Ads Geared to Young Blacks Use 'Sharper Message'

A liberal group backing John F. Kerry is accusing President Bush of opposing civil rights and trying to suppress black voter turnout in a multimillion-dollar ad campaign targeted at young African Americans. The Media Fund, a "527" independent group that has poured $43 million into anti-Bush advertising, plans to air the new television and radio spots in major urban markets in swing states. (The "527" reference is to the section of the tax code that governs such organizations.) "It's a sharper message, an edgier message," fund spokesman Jim Jordan said. "We're looking for voters who haven't been particularly motivated by our party's message previously." Fuse, a minority firm in St. Louis, is handling the ads. The first spot makes an explicitly racial appeal. "Bush said he would leave no child behind. But he wasn't talking about your child," the narrator says. After the screen shows such statistics as "Bush cut back $33 billion for schools" and "The high school graduation rate gap between blacks and whites is 25 percent," the narrator says: "Don't keep getting played." A radio ad charges: "The Republicans want you to sit out this election and simply stay home. . . . Who are they fooling? These are the same folks that are against affirmative action, oppose civil rights. These are the same people against raising minimum wage. And want to take away overtime pay. . . . Under Bush, 1.1 million more black folks live in poverty than they did before 2001." [more