November 2, 2008 - 11:53

Question 1 opponents send personalized mailer, plans Boston.com ad

The organization opposing Question 1 sent out personalized mailers this week and plans to run a user targeted web advertisement on Boston.com Monday, according to a spokesman for the campaign.

Both the mailer and Monday's ad are designed to inform voters how much Question 1's success would cost specific cities and towns.

Steve Crawford, a spokesman for the Coalition for our Communities, told PolitickerMA.com Sunday that every mailer was personalized to use the recipient's name and his or her city or town. On the back of the mailer, the mailer displays how much that city or town's local aid would be cut if Question 1, the ballot measure that would abolish the state income tax, succeeds.

Crawford said his campaign has found that voters are rationally evaluating Question 1 based on facts, not on the promises the measure's supporters, the Committee for Small Government, have made.

"Our opponents have made wild promises," Crawford said. "We're delivering facts and people are responding to that. We are using new techniques to get people to focus on the facts, not fear."

Another technique the Crawford's organization is using will be apparent on Boston.com Monday. Crawford said the billboard ad on the website will display the map the Coalition for our Communities has on its website. On the map, the user can scroll over his or her city or town, and a pop-up window, much like the mailer, shows how much local aid that city or town would lose if Question 1 succeeds. Crawford called the ad a "highly sought after, cutting edge piece of advertising."

Crawford acknowledged that "any campaign is fearful of last minute events," and acknowledged that his camp was concerned that the Wall Street meltdown and, more recently, state Sen. Dianne Wilkerson's arrest on bribery charges could increase voters' distrust in government and lead to votes for Question 1. But, Crawford said, his campaign hasn't seen voters responding that way.

"What we have found," Crawford said. "Is that people are responding rationally not emotionally."

The most recent polling supports Crawford's claim. An October 7News/Suffolk University poll showed undecideds breaking against the ballot question, with 59 percent opposing the measure and 26 percent supporting it.

"Times are tough," Crawford said, "but people understand that Question 1 would make them worse."

Check out the full mailer here.

Jeremy P. Jacobs is a PolitickerMA.com Reporter and can be reached via email at noreply@politicker.com.

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