THE AD: A 30-second television ad produced by the Chabot for Congress campaign and Curtis Inc. for the re-election campaign of Republican Steve Chabot in the 1st Congressional District. The TV spot begins not with video of Mr. Chabot, but of his opponent, Roxanne Qualls, Democratic mayor of Cincinnati.
The announcer says that Ms. Qualls is "attacking Steve Chabot because Chabot is fighting to cut our taxes, but her agenda of high taxes and wasteful spending really hurts our families."
Superimposed on the image of Ms. Qualls, shot at a recent debate between the two in Cheviot, is a graphic that says: "Qualls' Agenda: High Taxes. Wasteful Spending."
The ad says that this summer, Ms. Qualls "pushed tax increases the Enquirer called "reckless and foolish' and a spending plan the Post called "so loaded with pork that it squealed.' "
THE PERSPECTIVE: The Chabot ad says that Ms. Qualls is "attacking" Mr. Chabot. So far, none of the Qualls campaign commercials have mentioned Mr. Chabot.
A Chabot campaign statement that accompanied release of the new ad said that Ms. Qualls' agenda includes "high taxes" because she does not support the broad, across-the-board tax cuts that Mr. Chabot favors.
Instead, Ms. Qualls has said that she favors "targeted" tax cuts similar to those proposed by President Clinton in his State of the Union address earlier this year for such things as child care and college tuition tax credits.
The Chabot campaign also said the "high taxes" charge was a reference to Ms. Qualls' support earlier this summer for a hike in the admissions tax Cincinnati charges on tickets to sporting and entertainment events.
Ms. Qualls was one of five council members who signed a motion to raise the tax from 3 percent to 4.25 percent for 11 years, before gradually returning it to 3 percent by the year 2020. The tax hike -- which would have increased the cost of a $10 ticket by 16 cents -- was aiming at raising the $100 million the city of Cincinnati has promised Cincinnati Public Schools.
But there was never a formal vote in council on the plan. Ms. Qualls backed off the tax hike proposal, working out a compromise plan with opponents of the tax hike that did not include raising the admissions tax. The issue has yet to resolved.
According to the Chabot campaign, the charge that Ms. Qualls supports "wasteful spending" refers to the $203 billion transportation bill that passed Congress in May. Mr. Chabot voted against the measure, calling it "wasteful" and "pork."
Ms. Qualls lobbied Congress for inclusion of a $65 million authorization for preliminary work on a proposed light rail system for the Cincinnati area, $8 million for a transportation center on Cincinnati's riverfront and Cincinnati's share of the $89.6 million in highway funds allotted for Ohio.
The money was included in the bill, and Ms. Qualls said the money was needed because the Cincinnati area sends about $83 million a year in gasoline taxes to the federal government.
"We should get back as much of that money as we can," Ms. Qualls said. "If the money does not come back to this district, it will go elsewhere."
