David Wu for Congress – “Seeing Double”

Although George W. Bush still enjoyed enough popularity to win in many districts, by October 2004, the Democratic-leaning 1st District of Oregon had turned solidly against the President. David Wu was facing the toughest re-election of his career, and we had to get the debate onto the anti-Bush red meat that voters wanted to hear. “Seeing Double” linked Wu's Republican opponent, Goli Ameri, directly to the President on a variety of issues, leading with the Iraq War. We used direct quotes from Ameri to lend credibility to our argument, proving the adage that a candidate can often be his or her own worst enemy. It worked: this piece and another similar mail piece, combined with a coordinated message on TV helped propel David Wu to a 57%-38% victory over Ameri.