© National Journal Group Inc.
Friday, Oct. 23, 1998

Click Here To See RealVideo™ Of "Cow Gas" Click Here To See RealVideo™ Of "Congress"

Many politicians are full of hot air, but what are cows full of? In what is already the most famous ad of the 1998 campaign season, Wisconsin Senate candidate Rep. Mark Neumann answers that question. A goofy scientist reminiscent of Professor Frink of "The Simpsons" dashes around a field, attempting to catch the pungent emissions of bored-looking cattle. Neumann himself points out that the cow gas survey was an actual government study, until he authored a bill to end "this ridiculous program."

Neumann also responds to his rival, incumbent Democrat Russ Feingold, in another ad. Neumann, from an office, tries to refute Feingold's claims that Neumann supports wasteful defense spending. Neumann's media is produced by William Eisner and Associates.

Neumann and Feingold are both profiled in the Almanac of American Politics. More on the race, including links to candidate Web sites, can be found here. Poll Track's numbers on the race can be found here. Ads for Neumann and Feingold are available.

Script Of "Cow Gas"

NEUMANN [V/O]: This scientist is hard at work spending your tax dollars. It's all part of a government study on cow gas. You know, the kind of gas that comes from [flatulence sound]. As ridiculous as this sounds, you may not be amused to know that Russ Feingold voted to keep the cow gas study while voting to raise your taxes.

Hi, folks, I'm Mark Neumann. This smelled like government waste to me, so I wrote a bill that killed the funding for this ridiculous program. Feingold doesn't get it. We didn't want higher taxes, we wanted less wasteful Washington spending.

Script Of "Congress"

NEUMANN: Hi folks, I'm Mark Neumann. Now Feingold says I vote for wasteful military spending. But you know, Newt Gingrich took me off the committee for opposing wasteful defense spending. But I do draw the line when it comes to putting our young men and women in uniform at risk. I think Feingold's just wrong to ask our pilots to fly the same planes their grandparents flew two generations ago, the planes the B-2 bomber would replace. And I think Feingold's wrong to fully fund the United Nations while leaving 12,000 U.S. troops on food stamps. We just have different ideas.

To view the ad, you will need RealPlayer™ 4.0, which is available for free from the Progressive Networks Web site.