WASHINGTON – In a haunting new ad, New Jersey Senate hopeful Doug Forrester uses issues of terrorism mixed with images of playing kids to paint opponent Frank Lautenberg as a danger to the country’s security.
The new commercial evokes one of the most famous political ads of all time – the “daisy ad,” which was aired just once by President Lyndon Johnson in his 1964 campaign against Republican Barry Goldwater.
It ended with a nuclear explosion and was aimed at fears that Goldwater would be trigger-happy with nuclear weapons.
Forrester offers the flip side of that argument.
His commercial portrays Lautenberg as too weak on terrorism and too soft on defense, suggesting that he risks the security of America’s children by not being tough enough.
Asked if the ad was meant to send a message that Lautenberg is a risk to the safety of children, Forrester campaign spokesman Mark Pfeifle said, “Exactly.”
Lautenberg campaign spokesman Tom Shea noted the ad used the same images from an ad Forrester aired several months ago in the GOP primary. Shea said what strikes him most is that Forrester is still concentrating on dragging down Lautenberg – rather than trumpeting his own views – with less than a week to go before the election.