News
Early election season TV ads pledge fiscal responsibility
Terry leads White in fundraising
Published Tuesday, August 31, 2010: By Don Walton, LINCOLN JOURNAL STAR
The air war has begun.
And the message is fiscal responsibility.
Both Republican Rep. Lee Terry and Democratic challenger Tom White have launched TV ad campaigns in advance of the traditional Labor Day kickoff of election season.
Both candidates in metropolitan Omaha's 2nd District promise to tackle the mushrooming national debt.
The clash between Terry and White in the competitive congressional district headlines Nebraska's 2010 elections.
And TV ads are the surest way to track campaign messages since they provide the avenue that's likely to reach the most voters over time.
"In Nebraska, we understand you don't borrow what you can't pay for," Terry states in his campaign ad.
"We need some Nebraska common sense in Congress," the five-term incumbent declares.
In White's ad, the Omaha state senator says: "When you look at the debt that both parties in Washington keep piling on our kids -- it's just wrong.
"Washington may not get it," White says. "But Nebraska does."
Terry says he opposed "the trillion dollar stimulus that stimulated more government" and has supported "cutting the pork" in the federal budget.
White says he helped pass the largest tax cut in state history and "cut millions in state government waste to balance the budget without raising taxes."
Early TV ads help a candidate "set the agenda and tone" before the airways are crowded with campaign commercials, Terry campaign manager Dave Boomer said.
Meanwhile, it appears likely the two House candidates will meet in a pair of October debates.
A League of Women Voters debate at the Omaha Press Club is scheduled for Oct. 14.
The Bellevue Chamber of Commerce has invited both candidates to participate in a debate at Bellevue University on Oct. 19.