Elisabeth Dole Serves Up The Nastiest October Surprise of the Season

October 29, 2008

Mac Zilber

It’s a time-honored tradition in politics to smear your opponent with false rumors or fearmongering in the days preceding an election, with the theory being that there is no chance for the candidate to rebut the charges. Mitt Romney and John McCain traded hits in the days leading up to Florida, and Hillary Clinton’s eleventh hour “3 A.M.” advertisement is credited with winning her the Texas primary. However, North Carolina senator Elisabeth Dole has taken this tactic one step further than any advertisement I have seen in any race during this election cycle (and I have watched virtually every advertisement in most of the close senate races). The advertisement itself speaks more than any description of it can:

Elisabeth Dole’s “Godless” Ad

Besides being essentially an endorsement of theocracy (which I have discussed in other articles, but that is neither here nor there), this advertisement is actually potentially slander, legally speaking, and Kay Hagan is pursuing a cease and desist order on the advertisement. The end of the advertisement shows a picture of Kay Hagan and plays a clip of a woman who is not Kay Hagan saying “There is No God,” implying that Hagan is the one saying it. Now, I have never believed that religion should play a factor into a person’s vote, but polls say that more than half of Americans say that they would never vote for an atheist of their own party, so the patently false implication that Hagan is an atheist could prove effective in North Carolina, a state in which “Moral Values” was the single biggest issue to voters in 2004, according to exit polling. Hagan is not only a regular churchgoer but is a sunday school teacher.

If there are enough points (that means money in advertising parlance) behind this false Dole ad, it could tip the senate election in North Carolina, which will make her one of at least three senators who ought to be ashamed of their last-ditch efforts to get elected (along with Bob Corker and Saxby Chambliss). I suppose to some people victory matters more than truth.

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