I have heard about a certain negative ad from Elizabeth Dole for some time now but finally got to see it myself last night. Here's a link to the ad in question.
Now both the Charlotte Observer and Huffington post have weighed in on the events, as well as a good number of bloggers.
Here's a snippet from the Charlotte Observer's Fact Check about the ad.
IS THE AD ACCURATE?
It is true that Hagan attended the fundraiser in question, but the ad is misleading in several ways. The fundraiser was not a secret. The people shown in the news clips were not involved with the fundraiser. And some viewers might be led to believe that the unidentified female voice at the end of the ad is Hagan's.
Now I like primary sources so I figured I'd check out Mrs. Dole's site herself and see if she had made any apologies about the imagined association or the (more egregious) implication that atheists are bad people and not to be trusted. No such luck there. Here's an excerpt:"Godless Americans PAC?"
Email Story
Print StoryFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
[this excerpt contains three terminal paragraphs from the aforementioned article, emphasis mine]
"Kay Hagan is trying to run a campaign in North Carolina that casts her as a moderate but the money that's paying for it is coming from the left-wing fringe of political thought," said Dole Campaign Communications Director Dan McLagan. "You can tell a lot about a person by their friends and these are friends most North Carolinians would not be comfortable having over for dinner."
Hagan's campaign is being largely funded by labor unions intent on ending North Carolina's status as a right to work state, liberal trial lawyers and ultra left wing groups like MoveOn.org which is a deeply anti-military organization. Now Hagan has added anti-religion activists from Boston Massachusetts to the list.
"Kay Hagan does not represent the values of this state; she is a Trojan Horse for a long list of wacky left-wing outside groups bent on policies that would horrify most North Carolinians if they knew about it," McLagan said. "This latest revelation of support from anti-religion activists will not sit well with the 90% of state residents who identify with a specific religious faith."
[End excerpt]
Hmmn, so if 10% of North Carolinians like myself, are atheists and 90% are not...then clearly the 90% will be just as bigoted and inflammatory as the cranky old witch trying to keep her spot in the senate. And we all thought that Jesse Helms was a dirty old rag stuffed into the bottleneck of hatred and petty racism. I would argue that for stooping to such a level Senator Dole cannot claim any moral highground over the late Helms.
I have already voted early against Mrs. Elizabeth Dole but perhaps there is one last thing I can accomplish before election day. And if you know me I think you will know what that means...
