Centerfield

An Imaginary Centrist Ad Campaign

We in the center have certain organizational and activist disadvantages as compared to the left and right. We do less of the wide range of stuff liberals and conservatives do. They have popular pundits, political broadcasters, activist groups, think tanks, PACs, etc. We have some of these things too -- just not as much.

I was thinking about one piece of this picture -- the fact that liberals and conservatives moved quickly to form 527 committees in the wake of the new campaign finance laws. Groups like MoveOn.org, the Media Fund, and the Club for Growth are advocating certain ideas and perspectives on the airwaves every day, and they're also pushing for or against certain candidates.

What would it be like, I wonder, if centrists made an appearance alongside the liberal and conservative ideas floating across the airwaves?

We are sorely unprepared to launch such a campaign, but I sense we're at a moment, now, when the thoughts and perspectives we could share have particular resonance.

A realistic, sensible Iraq policy arguably has more impact on our present and future than just about any other issue in recent memory. What if we suggested a sensible, balanced analysis of the Iraq situation, along with a call for a firm commitment to success in Iraq?

A campaign launched right now could focus initially on the Iraq issue. Imagine launching it with the following two commercials.

Ad #1:

First, something simple. Just a person in an office. They can be sitting behind a desk, or perhaps a little more casually, standing in front and leaning back on it. He or she speaks plainly, in even tones, with a demeanor that suggests neither pessimism nor overconfidence:

Our nation faces some unusually difficult challenges today. Our young men and women are fighting in Iraq. Their future, and ours, has a lot to do with the choices we make in pursuing a difficult mission in that country.

We think it's critically important to succeed in Iraq. Whether we bring stability to Iraq will have a profound effect on the region, and on our efforts to prevent Iraq from becoming a haven for extremism and terrorism.

We think our leaders should be straight with you about the likely sacrifices we face in Iraq. In most cases, they've minimized or downplayed the casualties, the lives lost, the numbers of troops we need, and the taxpayer dollars all of this will cost. They should ask you to make those sacrifices -- not just assume that you will.

We also believe there are far more opportunities and resources available to us than we currently use. There are moderate leaders in Iraq with fairly widespread support who we could negotiate with in developing a legitimate interim government. The international community would offer more help if we treat them respectfully.

Call your congressman, your senator, and your president. Tell them you understand how important it is to succeed in Iraq. Share whatever your thoughts are on the matter.

And if you see a veteran, or a family member, be sure to thank him or her for the sacrifices they make for you, and for the future of our country.

Ad #2:

Again, you have just a person speaking on a very simple set. But they speak briefly before showing a series of clips from various prominent centrist leaders:

We're lucky to have quite a number of strong, sensible, balanced leaders in our country. Recently, they've been pushing for stronger and more effective policies on Iraq.

Clip #1: We have McCain making one of his recent strong, balanced statements. The importance of a commitment to win, the need to recognize all the resources we need to commit in order to make sure we succeed.

Clip #2: We have Sen. Hagel, or Sen. Lugar -- one of the moderate Republican internationalists. Support for the mission, but we can get help from the rest of the world.

Clip #3: Perhaps Gen. Anthony Zinni, from one of several really sharp interviews he gave recently. Going into Iraq may not have been our best choice, but now that we're in, we have to succeed. It's become a matter of vital national interests.

You could include any of a number of leaders in those clips. Maybe Biden or Lieberman. You'd probably want to look at a bunch of clips and sort out the best, and you'd probably also want to include both Democrats and Republicans. You may even want to explicitly include someone who opposed the war -- to speak to segments of the anti-war crowd.

The basic idea is to complement the first ad by showing there's a group of solid, serious, and sensible leaders out there pushing for a more engaged Iraq policy -- the kind of policy outlined in the first ad. Make it clear there's a political home for folks who want a forceful but internationalist foreign policy.