Ohio Republicans resort to the Max Cleland approach on Terry Anderson

[Toucano]

Ohio's Republicans are very nervous that the 20th Senate
district seat will be won by a Democrat for the first time
in 30 years.

That Democrat, a true blue, labor supporting,
poverty fighting former marine and American hero
is Terry Anderson.

Terry has an incredible lead in the polls, so what do the Republicans do?

They say Terry loves terrorists.

This is the inside of a mailing that says on the outside, "What do Dan Rather and Terry Anderson have in common?" It opens to this:



Terry was kidnapped by Hezbollah in 1984 and held hostage for nearly 7 years. The man Terry is pictured with ordered his capture, and Terry returned to Beirut years after he was released to interview the cleric about the reasons they took him hostage. You can see for yourself how the Thuglicans are using his thoughtful query and desire to understand what happened to him against him.

If you can, please help Terry fight this sickening personal attack.

At a scheduled debate tonight, Terry refused to participate and made an impassioned speech decrying these negative attack ads. I'll try to get a transcript of the speech.

He basically said he could not share the stage with his opponent because she's lower than whale shit and whale shit lays at the bottom of the sea! (not his words, mind you). He got a standing ovation!

If you can contribute to help Terry, please do. If you're tapped out, please help spread the word about this disgustingly low, exploitative Republican attack. Maybe Terry can turn it into some good press.

Contribute to the Anderson campaign

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Terry Anderson's campaign, do not speak for Terry Anderson, and cannot make decisions for Terry Anderson. I am simply a supporter who witnessed a great American and a fine Democrat stand up and tell the Republican attack machine, "Enough is enough!"

[MidwestTransplant]

1. Sick bastards

[Flammable Materials]

15. Is it wrong to hope and pray that these people suffer a gruesome death?

If so, please forgive me.

[glitch]

21. They are suffering gruesome lives - is that good enough?

That's why they are strung out on prescription meds and require ambien to sleep. I mean really, wouldn't you hate to be them?

[GainesT1958]

2. So Terry Anderson's running for the state Senate?

Wow!:wow:

Suuure, they'll TRY this crap...but it AIN'T working this year!:eyes:

We're Kerrying Ohio--and Terry's going to win!:D

B-)

[Dogmudgeon]

3. Your link doesn't work

Take out the "http:\\" -- it forces the link to have two of them.

Thanks -- and best of luck to Terry Anderson!

--bkl

[Toucano]

4. Thanks for the tip! n/t

[Norquist Nemesis]

5. Where have I been?

THE Terry Anderson is running for office (and as a Democrat?)?

This is one time that I'm holding out for sane people seeing the dirty tricks for what they are...malicious, lying, scumsucking, bottom feeders desperately trying the lowest of lows. Everyone knows who Terry Anderson is. This tactic is DISGUSTING!

[Philostopher]

9. Yes, it is.

This is what we've been dealing with in Ohio for a dozen years. Those bastards will literally do anything to win. They're just plain bottom-dwellers. They give mud a bad name.

[Toucano]

10. This is the man

who America prayed would be returned safely for nearly 7 YEARS!

There is no bottom for Republicans.

[Sugarbleus]

12. My jaw has dropped too. TERRY ANDERSON???

OMG, that is fabulous that he is running. That man is legend! I'm REPULSED, however, at how the repugs are trying to defame him!!

Geeezus, Republicans have turned a corner and bumped right into FASCISM ... no question about it.

MAN O MAN, I HATE NEO CONS. A POX on all their houses. :nuke:

[Thrill]

6. Republicans are so mean and hateful

[sandnsea]

7. Didn't know that

How can this guy be running for office and it not make any news. And what in the world does Dan Rather have to do with Terry Anderson?? And they have the audacity to disparage Kerry for supposedly disrespecting POW's? This guy was a freakin' hostage for chrissake and look what they're doing to him. I hate them, I hate them all.

[Cha]

8. Liberal is Good ..you

Scum Sucking Bottom Feeders!

[calimary]

11. Hey, THANKS for this! I will send him a contribution. A fellow AP brother.

I still have the "Remember Terry Anderson" button that one of our guys in the L.A. bureau had made up, and then sent to everybody in the system while he was a hostage.

[Sugarbleus]

14. WTG!! I remember every horrible detail of his

imprisonment. I cannot believe anyone would stoop so low as to defame this fellow.

[Toucano]

16. Thank you.

I appreciate the story about the buttons, too.

[calimary]

24. I have a silly story about that, too.

We at the AP followed his case, and his predicament, closely as you'd expect. Jeff Wilson at the LA bureau had the buttons made. We held vigils, and the AP brass kept in close contact with his sister, Peggy Say.

When word finally started filtering out that he'd possibly been freed, people in the news biz went on sort of an alert, ready to jump on the story when it happened. CNN sent a camera crew to 50 Rock - the AP main headquarters was in Rockefeller Plaza, next to NBC at 30 Rock. It was late at night, L.A. time, when the story was breaking. We had a nightside supervisor named Dennis Anderson, who should have been in radio rather than just print, because he had one humdinger of a fabulous, basso-profundo voice. I think it was maybe 10 pm or something. I was working late, as usual, and the bureau was semi-deserted since it was so late at night. The few of us who were there started hovering around the TVs at the main desk. There were reporters from other news outlets sent to many AP bureaus to get react (none here in L.A. that night, we were sort of off the beaten path for this story, anyway). If it was 10 pm or so here in L.A., it was 1 am in NYC, and their newsroom was just about as quiet and empty as ours was.

So the minutes tick by and we're all waiting, everywhere, for confirmation that Terry Anderson was finally a free man. And the minutes kept ticking by. CNN had its camera set up in the New York AP office, evidently on a tripod that they'd locked into place. And as the minutes strolled by, all you saw on TV was that static shot - aimed at the main desk, where you could see the back of some guy at his computer terminal, working on some update or other. You NEVER saw the front of him. He never turned around, probably wasn't even aware there was a camera on him. He probably wouldn't have cared, anyway. And the minutes ticked by and that's all you saw, except occasionally somebody in the background would walk through the shot, out of focus.

We had this joke about the print-side people not speaking fluent "TV" because most of 'em really were those "mild-mannered Clark Kent" types. No pizazz or blow-dried hairstyling or perfect makeup, and certainly no makeup artist close by. Few of them would even be all that impressed about having cameras on them for any reason. And as everybody waited for something to happen, hoping it was true, fingers crossed, prayers mumbled, and there was all this tension in the air, and all you saw was the back of this guy still seated at his computer and nothing else except for part of the desk in front of him (don't know WHO set that camera up - THERE - really lousy visuals), you suddenly realized that you were getting bored. So after awhile of nothing happening and no update and still more tension (they'd returned to the anchor in Atlanta and then cut back to the AP office every so often - still waiting), Dennis Anderson loudly intoned - "And THERE we see... the BALD SPOT... of the NIGHT GUY... at the AP WORLDWIDE HEADQUARTERS IN NEW YORK." And for some weird reason, the four or five of us there just fell on the floor laughing. The absurdity of it broke the tension, I think.

Just one of those little AP moments...

[Toucano]

26. That's a fantastic story.

Thanks again.

[blue neen]

13. Those slimy, no-good, disgusting repukes.

This man deserves all of America's support. I had no idea he was running for office. I hope he wins in the landslide of all landslides.

[KharmaTrain]

17. I Interviewed Terry In 1989...Incredible Man

He was extremely bitter about how poorly this country misunderstood the Arab world then, I can only imagine what he thinks today.

Those GOOP asshats have no idea of what this man went through and the vast knowledge he has on this part of the world...which would be wasted in the Ohio legislature, but would be great in the U.S. House.

I heard Terry a couple years ago on a History Channel special, but didn't know he was both a Democrat (when I talked to him he came off as being a liberatarian or independent) and politically active.

Here's a definite contribution! I'd strongly suggest anyone google on this man's background as a journalist (in the TRUE word) and about his captivity.

[NEDem]

18. That's just plain disgusting!

These people have no shame. I hope the people of Ohio are seeing through this. What happened to any sense of decency? This one really pissed me off!!

[Zero Division]

19. Proof again, that Republican rhetoric about values is utterly hollow

As if we needed any more evidence. Of all the values the Republicans tout, respect for military service is supposedly sacrosanct among Republicans. But they've shown repeatedly that this reputation is BS. It's as hollow as every other self-proclaimed Republican value. Military service is only valued by Republicans when it applies to other right wingers.

[MnFats]

20. Until this moment, Ohio Republicans, I think I never gauged your.

....cruelty or your recklessness ... have you no decency, Ohio Republicans? At long last, have you no sense of decency?


(OK, I stole that but it fits, doesn;t it?

[Toucano]

22. It sure does fit.

Terry has always talked about the ISSUES.

Jobs, health care, poverty, education.

They simply can't engage in that discussion, so they attack the man with made up crap.

After Terry left that stage tonight, she said everything in that ad is "100% true".

So the answer to your question is, no. They have no decency. ;)

[Toucano]

23. Additional attacks

have focused on Terry's opposition to Issue 1, the constitutional amendment to define marriage.

"Anderson said Padgett has unfairly claimed that he supports gay marriage because he opposes Issue 1, a constitutional amendment stating that same-sex marriage is not in line with the state's public policies.

Anderson said he opposes the issue because "it is badly written, it is unnecessary, it's economically and legally unwise, and it takes benefits and legal protections away from more straight people than gay people. It would apply to all unmarried couples."

Padgett said she voted for the Defense of Marriage Act, which defined marriage as between one man and one woman, and supports Issue 1, both of which Anderson has said he opposes.

"If you're against the Defense of Marriage Act, and if you're opposed to Issue 1, it stands to reason that you are sympathetic to gay marriage," she said."

http://www.coshoctontribune.com/news/stories/20041019/localnews/1439402.html

She forgets the fact that the AARP, the Republican governor, attorney general and two republican US Senators also oppose issue one.

[ISUGRADIA]

25. Nice Picture of Anderson too

Showing him with someone who will look ominous voters: a foreigner! an Iranian, or maybe OSAMA!? (remember, people are ignorant).

This type of ad is just filth!

[Toucano]

27. kick n/t

[Toucano]

28. Can I get a little more outrage here? LOL!

Here's an AP story about it.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/politics/9973025.htm?1c

<snip>

Anderson made a statement rather than respond to the first question in the debate at Marietta College and then walked out.

"The man in this picture that they use to imply that I am soft on terrorists is the secretary general of Hezbollah, the Party of God," Anderson said. "He and his brothers were the ones who kidnapped me, chained me, blindfolded me and beat me. ... And my political opponent uses a picture of that interview to try to win an election."

And the full text of Terry's statement.

Ladies and Gentlemen

For the past year, you have heard me talk about jobs, education and health care. These are the most important problems facing Southeast Ohio. Jobs, education and health care.

Every piece of literature I have put out, every radio and television advertisement, has talked about jobs, education and health care.
I have criticized my opponent’s record. I have attacked the failed policies of the Taft administration.

I have never attacked my opponent personally.

Most of you have heard the series of negative attack ads Senator Padgett recently launched against me. She’s spending a million dollars on television to distort my positions, and to make you believe her distortions.

I was told these lies and distortions about my positions on taxes and social issues would come—that it has been standard operating procedure for the Republicans in these campaigns— while I don’t like it, I have to tolerate it as the new American politics.

But what I can’t tolerate is the new low level of vicious personal attacks that my opponent has now resorted to…
Some things are more important than politics and more important than winning at any cost.

I received this mailed ad yesterday. It’s an attempt to turn “journalist” into a dirty word, and to imply I’m somehow soft on terrorism.

I spent a large part of my life reporting on wars and disasters around the world. I’ve seen more bodies than I ever want to remember. I’ve risked my life repeatedly to tell you the truth about some of the most dangerous places in the world. Now, my opponent wants you to believe that I’m soft on terrorism.

That is bad enough…
But here is the outrageous part…

The man in this picture that they use to imply that I am soft on terrorists is the secretary general of Hezbollah, the Party of God.

He and his brothers were the ones who kidnapped me, chained me, blindfolded me, and beat me. They held me for seven years. And I had the guts to go back to Lebanon to ask him why, and whether he could admit that was wrong.

And my political opponent uses a picture of that interview to try to win an election.

I have spent the past 13 years trying to understand why these people did that, why they do the terrible things they do. I have spent 13 years trying not to hate, trying to learn to forgive, because I am a Christian, and I am required to do so.

And my opponent wants you to believe that makes me soft on terrorism.

She demeans my profession. She demeans my family’s pain. Ask my daughter how she felt not to have a father for seven years because he took one chance too many to tell the truth, to do his job.

Senator, I have one word for you. Shame. Shame.

I apologize to the League of Women voters, and to this audience. I will not appear again with Senator Padgett. This is a new low in attack politics for Ohio which cannot be condoned by any responsible person.

Thank you.

[dansolo]

29. The most compelling part of this statement

"I have spent 13 years trying not to hate, trying to learn to forgive, because I am a Christian, and I am required to do so."

This man is a treasure.

[Toucano]

30. It was incredibly moving.

People stayed standing and applauding for a good 60 seconds after he had left.

As you've said, he's indeed a treasure. We will be so proud to have him sworn in as our state Senator.

[eataTREE]

31. Wow. Just wow.

If the man didn't win the election then and there with those words, there is no justice in the world.

[Toucano]

32. Kick again for the evening and west coasters! n/t

[TexasSissy]

33. What stupid people fall for this? I would vote AGAINST anyone running

such an ad.