Article: Petro's early ad blitz has helped, his poll of 500 Republicans says

Petro was an STRS Board member during the Dyer reign of misspending, mismanagement, and the entitlement philosophy. He happily "rubber stamped" any and all board motions that came before him until Dennis Leone uncovered the unGodly mess at STRS. If he couldn't keep a tight rein on a floundering retirement system should you trust him to become your governor? Now, Jimmy is trying to buy himself into Ohio's leadership with the Good Book in his hand! Spare me!!

John, a Proud CORE member

Petro’s early ad blitz has helped, his poll of 500 Republicans says

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

Joe Hallett

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Attorney General Jim Petro’s poll results were quickly discredited by his two GOP gubernatorial opponents.

A heavy dose of out-of-season television advertising has put Attorney General Jim Petro back into contention for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, Petro’s pollster said yesterday.

"The bottom line here is that Petro’s ads have worked and they’ve worked extraordinarily well," said Neil Newhouse, a partner in Public Opinion Strategies, an Alexandria, Va., GOP polling firm.

After spending about $1.5 million on a monthlong statewide TV advertising blitz, including spots during the Ohio State vs. Michigan football game Nov. 19, Petro has pulled even with Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell in a head-tohead matchup, Newhouse said.

Blackwell acknowledged yesterday that what Petro’s ads have done "is buy the party a primary," adding that the poll has no bearing on his plans to seek the GOP gubernatorial nomination May 2.

"I’m anxious to go ahead and get started and there’s nothing in this poll that has made us feel that we have to adjust our game plan," Blackwell said. "We’ve been prepared for this sort of a race for the past year."

Petro’s poll of 500 likely Republican voters showed that he trails Blackwell by five points in a three-way GOP primary that includes Auditor Betty D. Montgomery, but is 13 points ahead of Montgomery.

Mark R. Weaver, Montgomery’s campaign spokesman, said Petro’s poll shows "false momentum," and represents a "temporary spike that will flatten out in days."

In the absence of competing TV ads from Montgomery and Blackwell, Petro has "reached his high-water mark and now has nowhere to go but down," Weaver said.

Petro tailed Blackwell in the Oct. 8 Dispatch Poll by 14 points and was ahead of Montgomery by two points. The Petro campaign’s poll, Newhouse said, shows that "this has become a two-way race" between Blackwell and Petro.

In an unusual move, Petro launched the expensive ad campaign three months before the Feb. 16 candidate filing deadline in an attempt to close Blackwell’s lead and to force Montgomery to consider quitting the race. Montgomery told The Dispatch last week that she is vetting running mates and has no intention of dropping out.

Newhouse said a Petro ad targeted at values-voters that includes a visual of a Bible and Petro quoting Scripture impressed respondants by showing "that this is a man of faith, he’s conservative, and they like the fact that he talks about these issues."

The ad also touted Petro as an abortion opponent who believes "that marriage is a sacred bond between a man and a woman." Petro, who was endorsed by NARAL Pro-Choice America in 1998, changed his position on abortion in 2000 and opposed state Issue 1, the constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, in the 2004 election.

"Recent events have shown that this is a two-way race between Jim Petro the liberal and Jim Petro the conservative," Weaver said.