Hatch campaign scales back TV advertising, but not campaigning

CEDAR RAPIDS - Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jack Hatch is off the air.

And cable and radio and the Internet.

Although he's trailing five-term GOP Gov. Terry Branstad by 6 to as much as 24 percentage points in various polls, the Des Moines state senator's television ad buys expired Sept. 29. By comparison, the Branstad campaign has advertising scheduled through Election Day, Nov. 4.

The shift is part of the campaign's shoe leather strategy to visit as many Iowans in as many places as Hatch and his running mate, Cedar Rapids businesswoman and City Councilwoman Monica Vernon, can reach.

'We're giving the people of Iowa a break,” Hatch said in Cedar Rapids Monday. 'They've seen the negative ads over and over again. We've been on TV the whole month of September. We'll be up (on TV) again.”

Hatch emphasizes that he and Vernon visited seven cities over the weekend and another four Monday.

'We're just traveling, talking to people, talking to media to let them know what we're doing,” he said. They're emphasizing the differences between their vision and Branstad's style of leadership.

'In my eyes, Iowa is coasting. There is no plan for moving us forward as a state,” Hatch said. 'The governor just has minimal proposals that satisfy political ideology.”

So he and Vernon will talk about their vision for Iowa's future, 'but also being very clear about what Branstad isn't doing.”

Hatch conceded he's running at a severe campaign cash disadvantage to Branstad, who reported $4 million cash on hand as of mid-July - 22 times what Hatch had in his treasury.

'We have to raise the money to make this more competitive,” said Hatch, who has a private fundraiser in Cedar Rapids Tuesday night.

He also pointed out that at this time in 1998, state Sen. Tom Vilsack was 20 points behind Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Lightfoot. Vilsack won 52 percent to 47 percent. By comparison, Hatch's 48 to 34 percent deficit in the Iowa Poll released Monday night doesn't look so bad.

'We expect that it may not be any better for us,” he said, 'but we know as we campaign hard, tell the truth and challenge Iowans to think about a better Iowa, we will be able to make up the difference.”