Posted on 10/25/2006 7:59:20 AM PDT by SmithL
NASHVILLE - While Bob Corker has urged that one Republican National Committee TV ad be taken off the air, Harold Ford Jr. on Tuesday called on Tennessee stations to stop broadcasting another.
Federal Election Commission figures indicate the RNC is spending about $1.5 million on the two ads. A total of almost $8 million in such "independent expenditures" have now been reported in the current Tennessee U.S. Senate campaign - apparently, a record amount for Tennessee.
Republican Senate nominee Corker says the RNC ad he has criticized is "tacky," while others contend it goes beyond that to improper racial and sexual overtones. John Geer, a Vanderbilt University political science professor who studies political ads, called it unprecedented.
"I've never before seen an ad that brings up interracial sex - then has that porn industry comment," he said. "It's unbelievable."
In a letter Tuesday, lawyers for Democratic nominee Ford said the other ad is so blatantly false that it violates federal rules for commercials sponsored by non-candidate organizations and could lead to legal action against stations running it.
The RNC defends both ads and has spurned requests to pull them - including the one from Corker. As of late Tuesday, television stations were continuing to run the advertisements.
The first ad, called "Who Hasn't?" by the RNC, began running Friday. It has people delivering short comments about Ford, who is black.
A man in sunglasses, for example, says: "So he took money from porn movie producers. Who hasn't?"
Also, a bare-shouldered blonde says at one point she "met Harold at a Playboy party." At the end of the ad, the woman returns to look into the camera and says, with a wink, "Harold, call me."
"It makes Willie Horton look like child's play," said Geer.
Horton, who was black, was a Massachusetts murderer who was charged with rape while on a weekend furlough. Republicans used Horton in an attack ad against 1988 Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis in an effort make him look soft on crime.
Ford and Corker have said the "Who Hasn't?" ad should be taken off the air.
But Danny Diaz, spokesman for the RNC, said the ad raises valid points and has no racial overtones.
Indeed, Diaz said Ford himself had "just lent credibility to the statements in the ad" by acknowledging Tuesday that he had attended a Playboy party at the Super Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla., in 2005.
"I was there," said the congressman at a Nashville news conference. "I like football. I like girls. I make no apologies about that."
At the same time, Ford criticized Corker for not doing enough to get the ad taken off the air.
"If Mr. Corker wanted these ads down, he could get them down," said Ford.
Ford also addressed the RNC ads at a ribbon-cutting for a new veterans nursing home in Knoxville on Tuesday afternoon.
"If he can't convince the Republicans to pull down this offensive, scurrilous, sleazy ad, how can we expect him to stand up for Tennesseans in the U.S. Senate?" Ford said.
The Ford campaign has pointed to close ties between Corker and the RNC, which has had one of its staffers, Camille Anderson, accompanying Corker and serving as his press secretary in recent weeks.
Diaz said, however, that the RNC keeps its "independent expenditures" wing completely separate from the main RNC, which employs himself and Anderson. Under the "fire wall" arrangement, mandated by federal laws, the RNC cannot communicate with the "independent expenditures" section - even though RNC provides the money to finance the ads.
"That's the problem with these independent expenditures," said Todd Womack, spokesman for the Corker campaign. "Apparently, Congressman Ford doesn't understand the rules, even though Democrats have the same thing."
In a statement sent to media Tuesday, the Ford campaign noted RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman said he, too, had no control over the ads during an MSNBC interview. The "Who Hasn't" ad has received considerable national attention, with reports on CNN and newspapers such as The Los Angeles Times - all focusing on perceived racial and sexual overtones.
"The Republican shell game is now plain for everyone to see," said the Ford statement. "This is the classic Washington defense - no one takes responsibility for it, but everyone gets the benefit from it. The hypocrisy is overwhelming."
The second RNC ad, called "Shaky," calls Ford "slick" and "smooth" while having a record that is "a little shaky."
Among the ad's contentions are that Ford "voted to recognize gay marriage" and "wants to give the abortion pill to our schoolchildren."
In the letter from Ford's lawyer to television stations, all those claims are declared "blatantly false and misleading."
As for gay marriage, the vote cited by the RNC in documentation for the ad dealt with federal court jurisdiction over lawsuits under the "defense of marriage act" and did not involve recognizing gay marriage. In fact, the letter says, Ford voted twice in favor of a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.
As for the abortion pill to schoolchildren, the letter says the vote cited had nothing to do with the so-called "morning after" pill that, at the time of the 2000 vote, was not available in the United States.
As in the first ad, "Shaky" also cites contributions from the porn industry. The Ford campaign has acknowledged receiving $3,600 from individuals tied to the X-rated film industry but says the money was immediately returned as soon as those ties were known.
"If this advertisement continues to air, we will pursue all legal avenues available to us," according to the letter.
Whit Adamson, executive director of the Tennessee Broadcasters Association, said the letter will trigger reviews of the ad by stations across the state and each will make its own decision. Adamson said he knew of at least one station, which he declined to name, that had indicated it would refuse to air the ad. It has been running since Sunday statewide, Diaz said.
Diaz said both ads were "air-tight, 100 percent factually accurate. We look forward to a discussion on it."
Federal Election Commission figures available on Tuesday show the RNC has spent $1,519,337 on Ford attack ads. Earlier, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, or NRSC, spent $1,631,032 attacking the Democrat.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, meanwhile, has spent $2,024,702 on ads attacking Corker and $1,923,837 on ads promoting Ford.
Other independent expenditures listed by the FEC include:
FYI..Chris Matthews yesterday went ballistic over this ad..he described the girl as "naked" several times and all but invited her to come on the air and say she knew what she was getting herself into with this ad. He also said several times that the whole aim of the ad was to suggest to Tenn voters that Ford (black) dates white women..that the fear of miscegination lives..
No one needs to "suggest" that Ford dates white women. It's not a secret that he does, and I find it hard to believe that Matthews thinks there is anything wrong with it.
Laying aside the "racist" flap and purely from an ad-effectiveness criterion, the ad stinks, is murky and is a turn-off. It'll be worth thousands more votes for Ford.
It's a given that when things start looking good for one of our candidates, one can trust some eager-beaver GOP ad-creators to muck things up by trying to be "edgy".
Leni
Chrissy sits down to pee...
You shouldn't be watching him..Too much viewing of Chrissy lowers your sperm count..which is never good..8-)
FYI...I had a vasectomy years ago, but thanks for your concern..LOL
I live to serve sir...I live to serve...
Glad they're standing by this ad. We rarely win by letting the Rats tell us what we can and can't do.
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