By Kevin Zwick
Staff Reporter
Capitolwire
HARRISBURG (Sept. 11) – Democratic state attorney general candidate Kathleen Kane is still reaping the benefits of her high-profile primary election victory.
Kane’s media blitz in the final days of the primary put her name and face on TV sets across the state, so far giving her a name recognition advantage, which could have attributed to a recent Philadelphia Inquirer poll lead, according to Chris Nicholas of the Pennsylvania Business Council.
In the Inquirer poll, Kane, a former Lackawanna County prosecutor, received 40 percent, while her opponent, Cumberland County district attorney David Freed received 29 percent, and 31 percent were undecided.
Nicholas, a former GOP consultant and current political director for the PBC, considers Kane’s high poll number a leftover from her throttling of former congressman Patrick Murphy in the April primary.
The leftover recognition highlights a potential name ID lag for Freed, who hails from a small media market area in south central Pennsylvania.
When Republicans, who have controlled the state attorney general post since it became an elected office in 1980, tapped Freed to run, they followed a reliable formula – choosing a crime-fighting prosecutor as a candidate.
But some of the best examples of Freed’s crime busting – like July’s high-profile drug bust involving “bath salts” – didn’t get much media coverage outside of south central PA.
Going through a grueling primary where Kane had to fend off attacks from Murphy actually gave her statewide exposure and allowed the campaign a jump on introducing her to voters.
But the expensive primary put her behind in the money race.
Freed, who ran unopposed in the primary, was able to bank campaign cash, while Kane had to spend most of her funds.
“The truth is, both of them are gonna have enough money to get on TV in fall, so I don’t think name ID is going to be an issue,” said Ray Zaborney, a Harrisburg-based GOP consultant.
But some question that assertion, since Freed insiders say he is now pressing hard to report $1 million this month in fund-raising, well below higher goals the campaign has since had to reduce.
As of the last filing in May, Freed reported $440,000 cash on hand, while Kane reported a little less than $2,000 – a far cry from the $2.5 million she boasted prior to the primary.
Most of her campaign cash came from her husband Chris, who loaned the campaign $1.81 million. Kane herself loaned the campaign $30,500 a few days prior to the primary election.
The next campaign finance filing deadline is Sept. 25.
In the primary, Kane’s campaign spent funds on TV ads, which contributed to her winning every county other than Philadelphia and suburban Philly “collar” counties. Her media spending allowed her to build name recognition in far-flung counties like Erie, where she routed Murphy by nearly 10,000 votes.
Some of the campaign’s TV ads and robo-calls featured former President Bill Clinton endorsing Kane, who worked as a regional campaign coordinator for Hilary Clinton’s presidential bid in 2008.
Kane attended Bill Clinton’s address before the Democratic National Convention in North Carolina last week. The state GOP panned her for attending the convention and said Freed didn’t go to the Republican convention in Tampa but instead hit the campaign trail.
“At this time, David Freed has a challenge with his name recognition, but I believe he will have enough money to advertise across the state to get his name out in front of the voters prior to the election,” said Jeff Jubelirer, a Republican media consultant in Philadelphia.
“It’s early in terms of voters paying any sort of real attention to any races other than the presidential,” he added.
While there is some talk on the national level about Republican Mitt Romney’s chances to win Pennsylvania fading as polls show a steady lead for President Barack Obama, Jubelirer sees it as an advantage for Freed and other Republicans.
“Ironically, if the Romney camp cedes Pennsylvania to Obama, that may help Freed and [GOP U.S. Senate candidate Tom] Smith. That would free up the airwaves and remove some of the political advertising clutter that would result from a battle between Obama and Romney,” he said. “Without Pennsylvania being considered a possible pick-up for Romney, Freed has the opportunity to increase his name identity.”
Romney announced on Thursday a TV ad strategy in swing states, excluding Pennsylvania. And pro-Romney superPACs American Crossroads and Americans for Prosperity announced they were pulled advertising in Pennsylvania and Michigan to shift toward other battleground states.
However, former Gov. Ed Rendell said Thursday he thinks the Republicans and well-funded, Republican-aligned SuperPACs are laying a trap for Obama and the Democrats, according to the PA Independent.
