The fallout continues for Congressman Lee Terry and his Washington Republican allies, as Congressman Terry continues to stand by the ugly, fear-mongering ad that even other Republicans are decrying as “exactly the opposite” of what the campaign should be doing.
“Congressman Terry’s willingness to stand by and defend the most notorious campaign ad in decades has made it clear that he only cares about keeping his $174,000 government paycheck to pay for his ‘nice house,’” said Brandon Lorenz of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “Congressman Terry’s willingness to tolerate this vile and ugly rhetoric is exactly why he will be rejected by Nebraskans in November.”
(New) Editorial: Worst political ad of the season [Lincoln Journal Star, 10/23/14] “Rep. Lee Terry and some of his Republican cronies have the distinction of running the most distorted and misleading television ad that’s been seen on Nebraska screens in this election.”
(New) Willie Horton lives, in Nebraska [New York Daily News, 10/23/14] “With less than two weeks until the midterm elections, some of the nation’s highest-ranking political strategists have decided that the road to victory runs through the gutter — and that naked appeals to racial division will help candidates eke out a victory on Nov. 4.”
(New) Halloween Scare Tactics: The Most Terrifying Ads of the 2014 Election [TIME, 10/22/14] “Nebraskan Congressional candidate Brad Ashford received the Willie Horton treatment in an ad released by the National Republican Congressional Committee.”
(New) Editorial: Pro-Lee Terry ads neglect the full story [Omaha World-Herald, 10/21/14] “Can’t they tell us reasons why he deserves our votes? The two tasteless commercials that hit the airwaves in recent days, one by Terry and one by the National Republican Congressional Committee, should be withdrawn. The ads twist a legitimate and complex debate over public policy into Washington-style mudslinging at its worst.”
(New) Dem Claims cash boost after controversial GOP ad [The Hill, 10/20/14 ] “Brad Ashford, the Democratic state senator seeking to upset Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb), has raised more than $20,500 from 434 online donations since national Republicans released an ad Friday that aimed to tie Ashford to a convicted murderer.”
(New) Conservative Dan Frei hits GOP and Team Terry over Nikko Jenkins TV ad [Nebraska Watchdog, 10/20/14] “He gave Congressman Lee Terry fits in the GOP’s May primary election and Dan Frei isn’t done yet….Dan Frei blasts Team Terry’s Nikko Jenkins ad as the “politics of personal destruction.”
(New) 2 Republican politicians endorse Ashford following ads [KETV, 10/19/14] “The Nebraska GOP is spending lots of money putting Democratic congressional candidate Brad Ashford’s face on TV next to Nikke Jenkins. Two Republican politicians endorsed Brad Ashford Sunday.”
(New) 2 local Republicans blast use of Nikko Jenkins in anti-Ashford ad [Omaha World-Herald, 10/19/14] “A Republican TV ad picturing Democratic candidate Brad Ashford and convicted murderer Nikko Jenkins side by side continued to roil the Omaha-area race for Congress on Sunday, as two local Republicans denounced the ad in a press conference called by Ashford’s campaign.”
(New) The Hill: Ex-RNC chief slams ‘racist’ NRCC ad [The Hill, 10/18/14] “Former head of the Republican National Committee Michael Steele joined the chorus of critics who have slammed the National Republican Congressional Committee’s (NRCC) recent ad for race baiting.”
(New) Tom Becka: This is wrong: [Tom Becka, 10/17/14] “Emotional hucksterism like this is wrong. To go and try to tie Brad Ashford into beheadings overseas or blame him for Nikko Jenkins. Nikko Jenkins who begs the Corrections Department under Governor Dave Heinemann to keep him locked up….to try to tie that to Brad Ashford….I think that is wrong…”
Watch the nastiest campaign ad of the year [The Week, 10/17/14] “The campaign arm for House Republicans is now airing a truly astonishing ad in Nebraska’s 2nd District, tying the Democratic candidate, state Sen. Brad Ashford, to a brutal crime spree committed by a perpetrator who had gotten released early from prison.”
Willie Horton is back! [Washington Post, 10/17/14] “In the latest entry in the GOP minority outreach files, national Republicans have gone up with a lurid, racially charged ad in a House race that is being widely described as the ‘Willie Horton’ spot of 2014. The spot, from the National Republican Congressional Committee, ties the Democratic candidate in an Omaha Congressional race to one Nikko Jenkins, a former inmate who was released early from jail and went on to get convicted for murdering people.”
MSNBC: What could be the most racially-charged ad we have seen in years [PoliticsNation 10/17/14] “These race baiting ads had no place in our politics 20 and 30 years ago, but to use them today is inexcusable and the GOP should be ashamed of reviving this hateful strategy.”
What The Republican Party’s New, Unspeakably Racist Attack Ad Is Really About. [Think Progress, 10/17/14] “But it is absurd to suggest, as the GOP ad does, that Ashford is responsible for Jenkins’ release and the tragedy that soon followed. If his support for the state’s good time law makes Ashford responsible for Jenkins’ crimes, then Heineman and numerous other state lawmakers share that blame.”
GOP hits Lee Terry opponent Brad Ashford with ‘Willie Horton’ ad [Politico, 10/17/14] “National Republicans are trying to save Nebraska Rep. Lee Terry with a television ad members of both parties are comparing to one of the most infamous spots in political history.”
This may be the worst race-baiting campaign ad since Willie Horton [Salon, 10/17/14] “The National Republican Campaign Committee unveiled a race-baiting ad Friday linking the Democratic candidate for an Omaha-based congressional seat to Nikko Jenkins, who committed four murders after being released from prison in 2013.”
A Tale of Two Republican Campaign Ads [The Atlantic, 10/17/14] “In a tight House race in Nebraska, the National Republican Congressional Committee channeled perhaps the most infamous ad of the last three decades in American politics: the Willie Horton attack devised by GOP strategist Lee Atwater and used against Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis, which blamed a vicious murder on the prison furlough policy of the Massachusetts governor.”
NRCC Throws Hail Mary in Nebraska House Race [Roll Call, 10/17/14] “It’s the Willie Horton ad of 2014. The National Republican Congressional Committee went up with an ad Friday tying the Democratic nominee in a competitive Nebraska House race to Nikko Jenkins, a former inmate convicted of murdering four people after his early release from jail. It’s an ad reminiscent of the Willie Horton spot former President George H.W. Bush ran in 1988, tying his Democratic opponent to a convicted murderer who raped a woman while on a weekend pass from prison…. Privately, both Democrats and Republicans acknowledge Terry is down in polls to his Democratic challenger, state Sen. Brad Ashford”
Terry criticized by opponent over ‘beheading’ ad [The Hill, 10/17/14] “The Democrat locked in a tough battle against Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb) is demanding that the incumbent retract an ad that evokes street violence and the specter of foreign terrorism. Terry’s new ad against state Sen. Brad Ashford (D) laments “killings on our streets” and “beheadings abroad,” as silhouettes of crime tape and a person holding an automatic weapon wearing what seems to be a head or face scarf appear on the screen, while charging that Ashford is soft on crime.”
GOP Congressman Gets Boost From Racially Charged Ad [Huffington Post, 10/17/14] “The NRCC’s ad was immediately compared Friday to the infamous “Willie Horton” spot Republicans ran against Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis in 1988. It linked the former Massachusetts governor to Horton, who went on a violent spree while on a weekend furlough from prison. That ad was criticized for its racial implications. In a preview to the new ad, Terry held a press conference last week linking Ashford to the murders, arguing that the Democrat had opposed modifications to the law.
GOP Ad in Neb. Links Democrat to Convicted Killer [Associated Press, 10/17/14] “The ad is similar to the 1988 commercial that Republicans aired against Democratic presidential nominee and former Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis, tying him to a black man, Willie Horton, who committed crimes while on a weekend furlough… Ashford is locked in a close race with Republican Rep. Lee Terry, who is struggling to hold onto his seat. Terry’s insistence last year that he would keep his federal salary during the partial government shutdown
Is this the ‘Willie Horton’ ad of 2014? [CNN, 10/17/14] “Jenkins is black, and the ad drew immediate comparisons to the 1988 Willie Horton attack ad, which overtly tied Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis to the crimes convicted murderer Willie Horton committed while on weekend furlough under Dukakis’ governorship.”
The story behind the new “Willie Horton”-style ad running in Nebraska [Washington Post, 10/17/14] “This ad from the National Republican Campaign Committee used the case of convicted killer Nikko Jenkins to show alleged negligence by Democrat Brad Ashford, who is running against Rep. Terry Lee (R) in Nebraska’s 2nd district. (NRCC via YouTube) And it’s evocative — almost certainly intentionally — of the ads run by George H. W. Bush in 1988 against Democrat Michael Dukakis.”
Democrats call on GOP to take down race-baiting ad in Nebraska [USA Today, 10/17/14] “The House Democratic campaign operation is calling on Republicans to remove an ad trying to link a Nebraska congressional candidate to a convict who won early release from prison and went on a killing spree….The ad includes side-by-side images of Ashford and Jenkins. The commercial is reminiscent of the infamous Willie Horton ad from the 1988 presidential campaign that criticized Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis, the governor of Massachusetts, for furloughing Horton.”