National Republicans launched one of their most repellent ads of the election cycle today in the highly competitive race for Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District, drawing immediate comparisons to the widely condemned Willie Horton ad.
“This repellent, race-baiting ad has no place in America, and national Republicans should apologize and take it down immediately,” said DCCC Deputy National Press Secretary Ashley Lewis. “Republicans should be ashamed that they have resorted to divisive rhetoric, playing up racial stereotypes and fear-mongering to save their sinking candidate.”
Unfortunately, the “Willie Horton-style” ad in NE-02 isn’t hardly the only thing national Republicans are doing today to alienate African-American voters. News also broke that in a competitive House race in San Diego, a campaign manager said that being black was a “red flag” for campaign staff.
See below for more coverage of both controversies:
NE-02: NRCC releases Willie Horton-style ad in Nebraska House race [The Hill, 10/17/14]
NE-02: This may be the worst race-baiting campaign ad since Willie Horton [Salon, 10/17/14]
NE-02: New GOP ad tries to tie Brad Ashford to felon who went on Omaha killing spree [Washington Post, 10/17/14]
NE-02: Ad watch: GOP puts Ashford and Nikko Jenkins ‘side by side’ [Nebraska WatchDog, 10/17/14]
CA-52: GOPer DeMaio’s Top Staffer On Spotting Trackers: Young, Black ‘Red Flag’ [Talking Points Memo, 10/17/14]
CA-52: Black Conservatives Wants DeMaio Staffer Fired For Black ‘Red Flag’ Tracker Advice [Talking Points Memo, 10/14/14]
CA-52: Internal emails show DeMaio campaign worried about trackers, spies [Washington Examiner, 10/17/14]