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Monday, May 10, 2010
Dems response: 4 shirtless men, 1 woman in a bra
The advertising tactics in the U.S. Senate race in Ohio took another strange turn on Monday, May 10 when the Ohio Democratic Party released an Internet ad urging workers to take off their shirts and send them to Republican candidate Rob Portman.
The ad features three paunchy, shirtless union men and one bra-wearing union woman talking about how Portman’s trade and economic policies during his time in the Bush administration caused blue collar workers to lose their shirts.
Confused?
Last week, the National Republican Senatorial Committee used a screen-shot of shirtless Democrat Lee Fisher in a sexually suggestive Internet ad that implied Fisher was masturbating.
YouTube removed the ad on Friday over a copyright complaint. The NRSC re-posted it on its website but then removed it over the weekend. The NRSC claimed that their ad was about jobs lost during Fisher’s time as Ohio’s economic development director.
The ad got slammed by critics but it did create buzz.
On Monday, Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern called shirtless Fisher ad sleazy, over the top, demeaning and indecent. And then he unveiled the party’s response: www.portmantooktheshirtoffmyback.com and a short ad featuring the shirtless union members standing in an alley and dumping on Portman’s trade policies. The workers urge Ohioans to mail a shirt off their back to Portman.
To see the ad, click here.
Redfern also said that Portman hasn’t done enough to denounce the NRSC ad. “Washington may have the stomach for this kind of sleaze, but it’s outrageous that Congressman Portman would allow these tactics be used on his behalf,” Redfern said.
“Rob Portman spoke out against this ad last week as soon as he saw it, saying it was in poor taste and making clear that he had communicated that to the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, Chris Redfern and the Ohio Democratic Party know this,” Portman campaign spokeswoman Jessica Towhey.
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Obama Supreme Court nominee gets mixed Ohio reaction
President Barack Obama’s nomination of Solicitor General Elena Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday, May 10, got a mixed reaction from Ohio officeholders, including the state’s two U.S. senators.
“I look forward to meeting Elena Kagan and exploring her judicial philosophy and relevant background in academia and government to determine if she is fit to serve,” Republican Sen. George Voinovich said in a press release.
Kagan’s lack of judicial experience means the Senate Judiciary Committee and full Senate need the “requisite time for an exhaustive review of her record,” said Voinovich.
Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, who like Voinovich would have to vote on the nomination if it gets to the Senate floor, was more upbeat.
“Elena Kagan’s diverse background has given her a unique understanding of how the law affects every-day Americans. I look forward to a thorough confirmation process that will allow us to learn more about Solicitor General Kagan’s perspective and record,” Brown said in a press release.
He said that he hoped she would “rectify the recent judicial activism which produced the Citizens United decision, overturning a century of jurisprudence to give large corporations too big a voice in our elections.”
U.S. House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-West Chester, who has no vote on the nomination, was critical.
“Given her lack of judicial experience or time spent as a practicing lawyer, other aspects of her record must be thoroughly examined, including her troubling decision to ban United States Armed forces recruiters from Harvard Law School,” Boehner said in a press release.
The two major party candidate for the U.S. Senate seat in this year’s election also were divided.
Republican Rob Portman, the former Cincinnati-area U.S. House member, took a wait-and-see approach in his press release:
‘I am hopeful that she will make clear that she will not legislate from the bench and will instead be guided by the Constitution.”
Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, the Democratic candidate for Senate, praised Kagan in his prepared statement:
“She brings outstanding qualifications and a deep understanding of constitutional law to the Court.”
The winner of the Senate race will replace Voinovich, who is retiring.
