First, let me just point out that we have people on both ends saying some purely base and despicable things about one another, while on the campaign trail. That people willingly donate their money out of blind support for these candidates, only to have it used for these purposes is beyond my comprehension. But anyhow. Aside from David Perdue accusing Michelle Nunn of funding terrorists (which is one of the bigger low blows this election season), most of the invective has come from the left, the most notable instances described below--
September 21, 2014:
This ad, shown on the airwaves by a Super PAC run by Giffords and her husband, essentially accuses Martha McSally, a Republican congressional contender, of aiding in the murder of a girl and her father by a stalker, for supposedly not supporting policies that were meant to protect them. The ad exploits the grief of a mother to smear McSally. Problem is, McSally was a victim of stalking herself, which made the ad even more insensitive. It led to the Arizona Republic Newspaper (who previously endorsed her) to slam the ad, calling it base and vile.
October 10, 2014:
This ad, shown on the airwaves by the embattled gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis, uses a wheelchair to mock Republican Greg Abbott, a paraplegic, for his supposed lack of sympathy for others. Ms. Davis ironically has never really been a factor in the race for Governor in Texas, losing to Abbott by 15.5% according to RealClearPolitics averages:
October 21, 2014:
The Georgia Democratic Party puts out a 'get out the vote' flyer which invokes the shootings in Ferguson, saying "if you want to prevent another Ferguson in their future, VOTE." It goes on to inaccurately describe the events that occurred on the night of August 9, 2014, Ferguson, Missouri:
It implicates the officer, Darren Wilson, of killing the teenager because of his race. The claims were made that he was running away when the officer killed him. Evidence later showed that the officer was acting in self defense.
When Michelle Nunn was asked if she condemned the ad, she simply chose to dodge the question altogether:
This is unfortunate. Apparently she isn't averse to using race and tragedy to garner votes. Nunn is trailing by 0.5% to David Perdue, in the latest RealClearPolitics averages.
October 28, 2014:
Kay Hagan runs a radio ad linking Thom Tillis to the death of Trayvon Martin, for leading the effort to pass Stand Your Ground laws which the ad claims led to the the shooting which killed the teen. Kay Hagan is in a dead heat with Thom Tillis, leading by 1.6% according to RealClearPolitics averages:
October 29, 2014:
Louisiana Senate Candidate Mary Landrieu blames her unpopularity and Obama's on the racism and misogyny of Southerners:
Those statements will be damaging, as Landrieu, and Michelle Nunn are trying to win over moderate Republican voters. Likely, though, this may have been Landrieu's last gasp. She is shown slipping in the polls to her opponent Bill Cassidy by 4.5% according to RealClearPolitics.
I'm not denying the Republicans are guilty of the same tactics here, but Liberals have steeped to new lows this campaign season.
September 21, 2014:
This ad, shown on the airwaves by a Super PAC run by Giffords and her husband, essentially accuses Martha McSally, a Republican congressional contender, of aiding in the murder of a girl and her father by a stalker, for supposedly not supporting policies that were meant to protect them. The ad exploits the grief of a mother to smear McSally. Problem is, McSally was a victim of stalking herself, which made the ad even more insensitive. It led to the Arizona Republic Newspaper (who previously endorsed her) to slam the ad, calling it base and vile.
October 10, 2014:
This ad, shown on the airwaves by the embattled gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis, uses a wheelchair to mock Republican Greg Abbott, a paraplegic, for his supposed lack of sympathy for others. Ms. Davis ironically has never really been a factor in the race for Governor in Texas, losing to Abbott by 15.5% according to RealClearPolitics averages:
October 21, 2014:
The Georgia Democratic Party puts out a 'get out the vote' flyer which invokes the shootings in Ferguson, saying "if you want to prevent another Ferguson in their future, VOTE." It goes on to inaccurately describe the events that occurred on the night of August 9, 2014, Ferguson, Missouri:
"On August 9, 2014 an unarmed 18-year-old African American named Micheal Brown was fatally shot six times and killed by a white police officer, his body left in a pool of blood in the street for four hours.
Ferguson, Missouri's population is 67% African American. But the city's Mayor, 5 of its 6 city council members and 94% of its police force are white."
It implicates the officer, Darren Wilson, of killing the teenager because of his race. The claims were made that he was running away when the officer killed him. Evidence later showed that the officer was acting in self defense.
When Michelle Nunn was asked if she condemned the ad, she simply chose to dodge the question altogether:
This is unfortunate. Apparently she isn't averse to using race and tragedy to garner votes. Nunn is trailing by 0.5% to David Perdue, in the latest RealClearPolitics averages.
October 28, 2014:
Kay Hagan runs a radio ad linking Thom Tillis to the death of Trayvon Martin, for leading the effort to pass Stand Your Ground laws which the ad claims led to the the shooting which killed the teen. Kay Hagan is in a dead heat with Thom Tillis, leading by 1.6% according to RealClearPolitics averages:
"Tillis won’t fight for us. Instead, he made it harder for communities of color to vote, by restricting early voting and voter registration. Tillis even led the effort to pass the type of ‘Stand Your Ground’ laws that caused the shooting death of Trayvon Martin.”
October 29, 2014:
Louisiana Senate Candidate Mary Landrieu blames her unpopularity and Obama's on the racism and misogyny of Southerners:
Those statements will be damaging, as Landrieu, and Michelle Nunn are trying to win over moderate Republican voters. Likely, though, this may have been Landrieu's last gasp. She is shown slipping in the polls to her opponent Bill Cassidy by 4.5% according to RealClearPolitics.
I'm not denying the Republicans are guilty of the same tactics here, but Liberals have steeped to new lows this campaign season.
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