Candidate plays dress-up; Dold as a ‘moderate’

Despite what CQ Politics says about this race being a complete toss-up, it is apparent that this district leans slightly Democrat. Expectedly so, Bob Dold has been persistent on identifying himself as a social moderate in attempt to gain the votes of at least, the independent voters. Dold’s campaign strategy has been to target the voters that he needs to win and build a reputation among those voters as a socially moderate candidate. Yet media sources reveal sloppy efforts by Dold’s campaign workers to convey this message.

A recent article in the Daily Herald discussed a comment made by Dold’s campaign to a tea party group preparing a voters’ guide. The guide, published in The Conservative Magazine of Illinois, said that Dold’s campaign “asks that he not be rated highly by our voter guide (indicating that he wishes to be viewed as a moderate)”.

Of course, Dan Seals has jumped on this opportunity to criticize his opponent for the entry in the voters’ guide. Aviva Gibbs, a spokeswoman for Seals, argued that “If Dold was truly the moderate he claims to be, he wouldn’t have to request a low rating from the tea party, he would simply earn one”.

The strategy of Dold’s campaign is apparent; Republican candidate to appeal to independent and moderate voters in a district leaning slightly Democrat. But appearing is not appealing. Many voters may regard the fact that Dold’s campaign insists that conservative groups do not portray him as a conservative as evidence that Bob Dold is not the moderate candidate that the District needs.

Dold brushed off this charge by the Seals campaign as an effort to get the Republican campaign to “take our eye off the ball”. Mirroring Seals’ criticism, Dold has tried to portray Seals to be more liberal than he campaigns.

It is not to say that Dold’s campaign strategy has failed; the voters of Illinois’ 10^th district may not be swayed by the voters’ guide which gave Dold 3 out of 5 stars as conservative candidate. But then again, will independent and moderate voters read a voter guide that was put out by a conservative group? Do voters actually read voter guides?