Maine man gains national notice for political ads

YARMOUTH – A local man who produced the memorable 1988 Republican TV ad showing Democratic presidential hopeful Michael Dukakis wearing a helmet while riding in a tank is putting his imprint on this presidential election as well.

Greg Stevens works out of his home as president of Stevens Reed Curcio & Potholm, a Virginia company that he co-founded.

Stevens’ firm has created a half-dozen campaign ads for the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, the advocacy group questioning the military credentials of John Kerry, the decorated Vietnam veteran who is challenging President Bush.

Those ads helped erode Kerry’s bounce in the polls after the Democratic National Convention. But they also have been criticized, and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., called them “dishonest and dishonorable.”

Despite the criticism, media attention on the ads allowed the Swift Boat group to raise millions of dollars, fueling more ads that Stevens’ company produced.

“If you’re looking for reasons why Kerry lost his lead, you have to start with the Swift Boat ads,” said Larry Sabato, a political scientist at the University of Virginia. “The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ads took Kerry apart much the same way the Republicans took Dukakis apart in August of 1988.”

Stevens, 55, has built a national reputation for provocative political ads.

The Dukakis-in-a-tank spot was among Stevens’ first national ads. He created it in two nights in an editing room with footage of Dukakis at a tank factory in Michigan and narration about the candidate’s opposition to military programs.

The ad lampooned Dukakis and was used by the George H.W. Bush campaign as evidence Dukakis would not make a good commander in chief.

“Well, it looked silly,” Stevens said of Dukakis in the tank. “The funny thing about it was that the more experienced, big-time ad makers didn’t know what to do with 17 seconds of footage.”

Stevens has created ads for Bob Dole’s 1996 presidential campaign and for Republican Sens. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, George Allen of Virginia, and George Voinovich of Ohio. Republican Sens. Bill Frist of Tennessee and Don Nickles of Oklahoma praise Stevens on the firm’s Web site.

Stevens was fired from the 1996 re-election campaign of Sen. John Warner, R-Va., after one TV ad used an altered photo to make it appear that Warner’s Democratic opponent was shaking hands with former Virginia Gov. Douglas Wilder, who is black. The ad was criticized as racist.

“It was a mistake and I admitted it on the front page of The Washington Post,” Stevens said.

In Maine, Stevens has worked on ads for Sen. Susan Collins’ first campaign and for Peter Cianchette’s unsuccessful bid for governor in 2002. Stevens’ company also produced ads for Maine campaigns opposing an Indian casino and an attempt to legalize assisted suicide.

This year, his company has produced ads for Republican Charlie Summers’ run against Democrat Rep. Tom Allen as well as TV spots opposing a proposed property tax cap.

Even though his firm is producing ads against the tax cap, Stevens says he supports the Nov. 2 referendum to cap property taxes at 1 percent of assessed value.

“I am for the tax cap,” Stevens said. “Frankly, most of the time I’ve been lucky enough to work for people who I’m proud to work for and believe in and agree with. Occasionally there are issues that come up that others in my firm want to do for whatever reasons.”