This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Feb. 8, 2010 - The Missouri Republican Party is demanding that the only Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate, Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan, disavow and condemn a new ad aired independently by an allied group -- VoteVets.org -- because it "superimposes an image of Congressman Roy Blunt over footage of the aftermath of the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole, an attack which killed seventeen American servicemen and women."
Blunt, of course, is the best known Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate this year. At stake is the seat to be vacated with the retirement of incumbent Republican Christopher "Kit" Bond.
VoteVets announced late last week that it was spending $600,000 on an ad campaign in Missouri to attack Blunt's record on energy issues. The ad asserts that Blunt, R-Springfield, would prefer to allow U.S. dollars to go to oil-producing countries that sponsor terrorism. VoteVets is running similar ads in several other states with competitive Senate contests.
VoteVets is the latest independent group to run ads in Missouri on Carnahan's behalf. Both sides are stepping up attacks against Blunt and Carnahan, in the wake of recent polls indicating that Blunt has gained ground in recent months.
David Cole, chairman of the Missouri Republican Party, called on Carnahan to denounce the VoteVets ad.
“It is shocking and offensive that this group would use footage of a heinous attack that killed 17 Americans to smear Roy Blunt’s record and link opposition to cap-and-trade legislation to support for terrorism,” said Cole. “Missourians are tired of the kind of disgusting attack politics that Robin Carnahan and her allies are engaging in. Carnahan should immediately condemn this ad and demand that its removal from television.”
However, the state and national GOP have their own record of using terrorism footage in a political ad.
At the Missouri Lincoln Days festivities in February 2002 -- just months after the terrorism attacks on Sept. 11, 2001 -- the state GOP unveiled a 6.5-minute spot that opened with the collapse of the World Trade Center towers into dust, and footage of survivors running for their lives.
Produced by the Republican National Committee, the ad was to be used to energize party activists. It also included portions of then-President George W. Bush's emotional speech to Congress shortly after 9/11, including his declaration "Let's roll." Also featured were comments from top Republicans, including then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani and then-national terrorism chief Tom Ridge.
Then state party chairwoman Ann Wagner, who now chairs Blunt's campaign, narrated part of the ad. She said at the time that the point of using the 9/11 footage was to underscore that "elections matter. Who we elect matters."
A state GOP spokesman replied today that the 9/11 spot and the Cole ad served two different purposes.
“According to a news article, the 2002 video was not overtly partisan or political,'' said state GOP spokesman Jonathon Prouty, who notes he did not work for the party when the spot was produced and aired, and had not seen it.
"It appears that the patriotic video was produced to highlight the administration’s leadership in a time of crisis,'' he said. "By contrast, allies of Robin Carnahan are spending $600,000 to convince Missourians that opponents of job-killing cap-and-trade legislation are somehow complicit in terrorist attacks. We strongly condemn this kind of attack politics and once again call on Robin Carnahan to demand that these offensive ads are removed from television.”
