DFL: Bachmann ad violates campaign laws
Tuesday, September 14, 2010 at 8:50 am
The Minnesota DFL sent a letter to Minnesota television stations alleging that Rep. Michele Bachmann’s latest ad featuring “Jim the Election Guy” violated campaign ad laws by not having a disclaimer at the end of the ad (though she does provide a disclaimer at the beginning). The DFL cites the Communications Act of 1934 and says her campaign should stop receiving “the lowest unit charge,” which is afforded to qualified federal campaigns.
“The Communications Act of 1934 permits a federal candidate receiving the lowest unit charge to air a television ad that makes direct reference to another candidate for the same office only if, at the end of the broadcast, both a photo and disclaimer from the candidate appear for no less than four seconds,” the DFL said in a statement on Monday. “Representative Bachmann’s disclaimer in her most recent ad does not comply, as her image does not appear anywhere at the end of the advertisement.”
The DFL called the ad “illegal.” In a letter to station managers, the party said that the rules being violated are not those of the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) but the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
“At every turn, Beau, the actor guy, has backfired on Michele Bachmann,” said DFL spokesperson Donald McFarland. “Representative Bachmann’s ads are false, misleading, and now they’re even illegal. Minnesotans can’t trust Michele Bachmann or her actor to tell them the truth, just like they can’t trust her to work for them in Congress. Tarryl Clark isn’t hiding behind actors, because she stands with the people of the sixth district.”
Here is the DFL letter to television stations:
Bachmann-Ad-Letter
7 Comments
Comment posted September 14, 2010 @ 10:41 am
Really?…Because the Clark campaign can’t refute the facts, all they can come up with is to let everyone know that “Jim the Election Guy” is an actor? Oh, and his real name isn’t even Jim?! I’m shocked!!! Here all along I thought Jim was a real person. Thank you for setting me straight. I will no longer lay awake at night struggling with the paramount issue of, “who is Jim and is that his real name.” The next attempt is to file a complaint over the composition of the TV ad. I’ll be the first to admit, the picture and disclaimer do not appear together. But, is this a mistake by the production company or some calculated scheme by the Bachmann campaign to trick people into voting for Michele. Pretty sad Tarryl…pretty sad.
Comment posted September 14, 2010 @ 12:07 pm
Your candidate is probably going to win in her gerrymandered district, Chris, but you might at least read the facts stated in the link “latest ad” which starts:
“Rep. Michele Bachmann released the third television ad of her campaign; it’s the third to attack DFL opponent Tarryl Clark and the third to use “Jim the Election Guy.” It again criticizes Clark for raising taxes, but uses the same example deemed false by three media outlets.”
If you were capable of critical thinking rather than accepting the spoon fed daily brainwashing by the GOP subsidiary, Fox News, you might know that Bachmann is an inveterate liar. She is also incompetent, proven by this article demonstrating her inability to follow simple rules like the FCC regulations. She should forfeit the right to low cost ads for this, even though her payments are simply recycled back to her by Rupert Murdoch and her other uberrich financiers.
Comment posted September 14, 2010 @ 2:33 pm
jonerik-
Let the voters speak. But I see you are already coming up with excuses.
Comment posted September 14, 2010 @ 7:34 pm
You apparently don’t disagree that Bachmann is an inveterate liar. Pointing out that the current representative of the 6th district is an incompetent and a liar is not making excuses. I do question the 47% of the voters who think that’s good enough. I’m persuaded that most of those voters only care about making abortion and gay marriage illegal so they support Bachmann who panders to this level of involvement and knowledge. They don’t care that Bachmann is a tool of wealthy interests who can afford to pay for a fake “independent” candidate like Bob Anderson to split the anti-Bachmann vote.
Comment posted September 14, 2010 @ 8:37 pm
Facts are not excuses. Facts are the basis of intelligent decisions. Let the people hear the truth before they vote.
Like her spendthrift franking, this is an example of Bachmann bilking others for political gain.
Who would I vote for…
Tarryl Clark, who shows up for work and actually accomplishes things for her constituents?
Or Cirque du Michele with her self-aggrandizement and unconstitutional theocratic agenda?
The qualified liberal or the compulsive liar?
Easy choice!
Comment posted September 15, 2010 @ 9:03 am
Wow…I see we haven’t dealt with our anger issues.
It’s actually quite simple. There are those of us that don’t want or need our government to hand hold, babysit or act as nanny. Then there are those who need to be dependent on someone or something.
As for following the rules, I have one word for that…ACORN. I’m actually looking forward to meeting the Brazilian soccer team at my polling site.
And one last thought. I will acknowledge your use of the words inveterate(twice), gerrymandered, self-aggrandizement and theocratic. I’m glad to see those thesauruses are finally getting put to use.
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