The RNC in a nutshell

October 19, 2006

The Republicans, with some justification, are getting a little panicky in Ohio. Statewide polls show them losing, well, pretty much every major race this year. Desperate to do something to slow Dems down, the Republican National Committee launched a new ad this week against Rep. Sherrod Brown (D), who is now favored to beat incumbent Sen. Mike DeWine (R).

The ad appears, at first blush, to be the kind of negative spot that might be effective — it accuses Brown of not having paid his unemployment taxes for the last 13 years. That sounds pretty bad, right? And it would be if it were true. Unfortunately for the RNC, however, the ad is completely wrong. There’s ample proof that Brown paid the taxes, just like he’s supposed to. The ad is simply incorrect.

OK, so someone at the RNC got a little overeager and created an ad before getting the facts straight. It’s not the first time; it won’t be the last. Now that it’s been exposed as wrong, however, the RNC will have no choice but to pull the ad and go after Brown on some other point. Except the RNC doesn’t see it that way.

The Republican Party last night refused to cancel commercials that claim Sherrod Brown was a longtime tax scofflaw – even though the state of Ohio says the ad’s claim is untrue.

Brown, the Democrat running against incumbent Mike DeWine, paid the tax bill years ago, soon after receiving a tax lien, according to newly released records from the Brown campaign and authenticated by the state.

But the Republican National Committee, supporting DeWine’s reelection bid, is running commercials saying that Brown “didn’t pay his unemployment taxes for 13 years.” DeWine ran his own commercial all day Wednesday with a DeWine family friend saying that Brown didn’t pay “an outstanding tax bill for 12 years.”

Hours after Brown campaign lawyers complained, DeWine spokesman Brian Seitchik said last night that the campaign would change its ad “as soon as possible,” but that it still would reflect the fact that Brown “failed to pay a delinquent tax bill.” The RNC, however, said last night that it had no plans to change its ad. (emphasis added)

Amazing.

The RNC simply doesn’t care. It created an attack, the attack is proven factually wrong, the RNC knows it’s factually wrong, but it’s decided to keep the ad on the air anyway. It’s breathtaking — the RNC is effectively admitting, “Yep, we’re intentionally lying to voters. And we don’t care.”

Here’s a gem of a response:

An RNC spokesman, Aaron McLear, said the committee would continue to air its ad. He said in a statement that Mr. Brown’s “fondness for tax increases and inability to pay his taxes on time provide further proof that he is wrong for Ohio.”

There’s simply a disconnect between reality and Republican claims, but since the RNC likes its claims more, it simply ignores reality.

Would the DNC try this? Seriously, if the DNC created an ad with a patently false charge, and got caught, would the party simply shrug its shoulders? “Lie, schmie, we like it anyway.” And how might the RNC respond?

In this particular situation, it seems the Dems have no choice but to go after TV stations directly, explaining to them that broadcasters have a responsibility to reject commercials with demonstrably false claims.

Simple- start suing the broadcasters. That’ll get their attention pretty quick.

  • Perhaps suing any owners & station managers personally might make a difference, too.
    And do it for a truly significant sum, like….100 billion dollars (cue Dr. Evil laugh).

  • Don’t sue the tv stations, hammer the republicans with their lies. Run an ad hammering the republicans (i.e. RNC) for running an ad that they (i.e. DeWine) admit is demonstrably false (i.e. false enough to alter DeWine’s ad). There’s much better language that could be used, but this is a perfect opening to hammer them on a point where they are vulnerable (i.e. trustworthiness).

    We shouldn’t play the typical pussies that the RNC portrays us as (i.e. running to the courts whining about a campaign ad). We need to hit them like they hit us…again and again and again and again.

  • Actually, Nobody, letting the false ads stay up can be very damaging to a campaign. Those false images stick with voters and might sway opinion (after all, that’s what they are intended to do). Hit them in the courts AND in the wallet.

  • At what point could Brown sue them for slander? I mean, damn, that can’t be legal. I know, I know, not that that’s ever stopped them before….

  • Sherrod Brown should sue the RNC for defamation–and for outright lying. Do we need campaign reform legislation that would allow win-loss suits? Just like video replay in the NFL, if you make a challenge (file a lawsuit) and you lose in court then you would suffer a financial penalty. If the challenger wins, then the liars would pay.

  • I understand the rationale behind sticking with the ad. There is a small, but substantial number of truly ignorant voters who can be exploited in such a crass manner to swing a race or cut into an opponent’s lead. For these people, it doesn’t matter what the truth is, they saw something on the tee-vee that says differently. Their mind is made up.

    I agree a little bit the Nobody. Suing TV stations isn’t necessarily the way to go initially — it’s time-consuming and a drain on resources that could be applied elsewhere like advertising of GOTV efforts. Hit them back with an ad that sets Brown’s record straight.

    BUT … more importantly, come out with an ad that hits DeWine hard, above or below the belt. There must be something in the opposition research file on DeWine that is just shady enough and ambigious enough to cast doubt on the man’s character. If the Repugs are going to play fast and loose with the truth, there’s no reason not to respond in kind. Win the election first, make your penance later.

  • Another lovely setup from the RNC:

    Mark De Whiner lied about Sherrod Brown’s tax record. When asked to correct the ad, he refused.

    American doesn’t need more liars. Vote for Sherrod Brown. Vote for truth.

  • Brown should run an ad leads off with snapshots of the documentation proving he paid his taxes. Next it segways to the litany of false claims made by the Bush administration. Video of Cheney’s “last throes” comes to mind.

  • As to the question on whether or not the DNC would continuing running an ad that was incorrect, I don’t know.

    I do know, however, that Clair McCaskill apologized to Jim Talent last night for calling him a “false patriot.” Why, I’m not sure, since the shoe seems to fit.

    But it does show that the left is willing to admit when it goes too far. Meanwhile, the right shows that it will admit it, but won’t do anything about it.

  • Photoshop an ad of Mike DeWine fondling a student page. And another of him picking up a hooker. And a third of him having sex with a goat. Put them in an ad. “This sick pervert does not represent Ohio values. He is a dangerous, criminal, psychopath. If you want your family pet to be safe from unwanted sexual advances, don’t answer if Mike DeWine knocks on your door, and make sure you vote Sherrod Brown.”

    All false you say? Oh well. We like our reality better. Oops. Maybe we’ll apologize right after the election is over.

    The R’s really should be careful what rules they set. Our technogeeks are magnitudes better than theirs. 🙂

  • How about an ad that says “The Republicans think it’s OK to run ads with crazy accusations. Well, maybe. But Sherrod Brown has proof that he paid his taxes. Does Mike DeWine have proof that he doesn’t have sex with goats?

    Know who you’re voting for. Ask for the evidence. Look at it. Decide for yourself.”

    Then follow up with 5-second ads showing scared looking goats, and a man’s shadow.

    (You know, now I see why the RNC does this. Once you give up on ethical behavior, imagining smear ads is pretty fun.)

  • Then follow up with 5-second ads showing scared looking goats, and a man’s shadow.

    Get me a sponge, I think I wet my pants. Thanks biggerbox, this would be a hilarious take on the infamous “When did you stop beating your wife?” smearnario. And since the RNC seems to have sold its sense of humour along with its soul to Satan (aka Karl Rove) they’d probably implode with anger before they could frame a response.

    Quick! Can the DNC buy a clip of The Silence of the Lambs?
    Sir Hopkins as H.L.: “Do you want to stop the screaming of the lambs?”*
    Voice over: Vote Democrat November 7th.

    tAiO

    *I’ve only read the book. I assume this line is in the movie.

  • In other exciting Ohio news, Ken Blackwell’s campaign is trying to smear Ted Strickland over a trip he took to Italy with a former aide, who is gay.

    link here

  • re #17

    And the clock stops. I have got to start placing bets on these things. But I guess this means Blackheart, I mean Blackwell has given up on removing Strickland from the ballot?

    I thought this Strickland quote was a beautiful example of the veiled threat:

    “During this campaign, I’ve gotten a lot of anonymous messages suggesting things about Mr. Blackwell, but I don’t believe there are any merit to them and I haven’t even shared them with my staff.”

    Translation: You don’t want me to start repeating those allegations, do you Kenny? Nah, you wouldn’t like that one bit.”

  • i’m sure one of them was about goats. at least one.

    (I may finally be able to get someone to take me up on this. after the Swiftboat episode, I tried to get the Kerry Campaign to run an ad that said “John Kerry for President. At Least He Doesn’t F*** Goats.” Sadly, they wouldn’t do it.)

  • Um… How about… Brown’s campaign threatens to sue the TV stations unless they run biggerbox’s ad *for free*, and side-by-side with DeWhine’s? Would be cheaper for the stations that paying out millions in damagages, no?

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