RNC calls new DNC ad 'misleading'

Posted: Monday, April 28, 2008 3:50 PM by Mark Murray
Filed Under: Democrats, Ads

From NBC's Mark Murray
The Republican National Committee held a conference call with reporters this afternoon, announcing that it is asking TV cable networks not to run a "maliciously false" and "misleading" TV ad by the Democratic National Committee whacking McCain on the Iraq war.

The ad -- which the DNC said it will air on MSNBC and CNN -- hits McCain for his past statement that he would be fine with US soldiers remaining in Iraq for "maybe 100" years. McCain did say that, but as the RNC and other fact-checkers have pointed out, it was in the context of talking about a peace-keeping force in Iraq after the violence there had ended.

The RNC also charged that the DNC and the Obama and Clinton were coordinating with each other (by sharing similar pollsters and polling firms and having meetings), and that made this new TV ad illegal.

DNC spokeswoman Stacie Paxton tells First Read that: "1) we used McCain's own words and 2) there has been no coordination. These are just baseless claims -- we obviously struck a nerve." The DNC will elaborate on those arguments in its own conference call later this afternoon.

*** UPDATE *** In the DNC's subsequent conference call, chairman Howard Dean shot back, "I understand that we have struck a nerve with the RNC with this ad." After reading back McCain 100-year quote, Dean added that the ad makes two arguments: "One, we don’t think Americans want us to be in Iraq under any circumstance... We don’t want to be there for 100 years, whether there is a war there or not. Two, anyone who thinks we’re going to be occupying Iraq for 100 years and doesn’t think there will consequences ... doesn’t understand what is going on Iraq."

"He is completely out of touch with where the American people are on the war," Dean said, later saying: "There is nothing false about this at all... [These are] John McCain's own words... You are going to see a lot of this kind of stuff."

Also on the DNC call, general counsel Joe Sandler said the RNC's claim of coordination between the DNC and the Democratic presidential campaigns is "completely baseless." And he noted that there was no indication from MSNBC and CNN that they would NOT air the ad.

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Comments

Maybe the DNC should try putting it in the NYTs, they're real good at reporting lies about McCain.

Sally Grunson (Sent Monday, April 28, 2008 3:56 PM)

The RNC crying about messaging is a funny thing to behold.

Tom, Tennessee (Sent Monday, April 28, 2008 3:58 PM)

Good for the DNC! It's not like the RNC has anything they could use against Obama and Clinton. Those two are as pure as the driven snow.

Max Waldorf, Orlando FL (Sent Monday, April 28, 2008 3:59 PM)

Why do these idiots run these ads on CNN and MSNBC? People that watch those stations are political junkies and have known who they are voting for for months. Run them on stations with TV shows or sports or something. Idiots.

Smarter than that (Sent Monday, April 28, 2008 3:59 PM)

Yeah, so accroding to the RNC the DNC ad is "MISLEADING".

Yeah. Right. Just like the one they approved in NC calling Obama "extreme" making him sound like a terrorist for knowing an intellegent, truth telling man like Dr. Jeremiah Wright.

Because we ALL know that NC ad and the one they have running now in Mississippi are not misleading in the least. They are 100% perfect!

Vicki, Pensacola, Florida (Sent Monday, April 28, 2008 4:00 PM)

So...McCain can't get the NRC to pull the "offensive" add there, but the RNC wants the DNC to pull the "inaccurate" add fromm the National Media.

Hey! Maybe there's hope that all parties can get together and agree to stop BS'ing the American Public, pull ALL of the BS adds, and start addressing the issues!

Tony, Dalton, GA (Sent Monday, April 28, 2008 4:00 PM)

Oh now really feel sorry for the RNC it's there party that got us in this fix to begin with. Boo Hoo Isn't that what they say about democrats.

Voter, Des Moines, IA (Sent Monday, April 28, 2008 4:00 PM)

If the GOP doesn't like the ad perhaps they should spend a little more time working on the stuff that comes out of Senator McCain's mouth!

Pete - Albany, NY (Sent Monday, April 28, 2008 4:02 PM)

So, the RNC feels that the ad against their candidate is misleading and unfair. But the ad against Obama is okay? Typical double-speak by the republicans.

Funny how they have no problem at all smearing a democrat, but God-Forbid John (Old man yells at cloud) McCain says something and then it gets used against him.

Paul, Riverside, CA (Sent Monday, April 28, 2008 4:02 PM)

"maliciously false" and "misleading"

misleading, maybe? maliciously false, no, it is quite factual he did make the statement as the clip shows

MK,MO (Sent Monday, April 28, 2008 4:03 PM)

The RNC would do better to school McCain on how to restrain his tongue. If he is going to blurt out his insanity, he should expect to have it come back, bite him in the buttocks, and hit him where he lives like everybody else.

McCain: leave the polls without him (Sent Monday, April 28, 2008 4:05 PM)

Nothing misleading about it..McCain was almost dismissive of the person's question in the tone of his voice when he answereed the question in New Hampshire. McCain is a war-monger. He harbors some deep psychological sense of personal failure to his father as a P.O.W. and he is bound to reverse that failure by continuing to advocate for war. There is no possibility of being peace-keepers in that part of the world. History teaches us that the Middle East will continue to be unstable because of ancient religious rivalries and lack of water and other resources. To equate Japan, Korea, or Germany to Iraq shows both a lack of intelligence and memory.
McCain is deficient on both of those. McCain's age and mental status pose a fall greater danger to the USA than anything the Rev. Wright can dish out.

David Kolva, MD Oswego/Syracuse, NY (Sent Monday, April 28, 2008 4:06 PM)

That Democrats coordinating between themselves. Now that's really funny.

Van Ban Wu (Sent Monday, April 28, 2008 4:06 PM)

OMG! Who would ever take a small sound bite out of context and play it over and over again to inflict political damage?

brian from nc (Sent Monday, April 28, 2008 4:07 PM)

Oh-poor whiney, lying, cheating, swift-boating repubs! Does it hurt and have a temp-a-ture? Get over it - you repubs are toast, and that old fart nominee of yours that you don't even like is gonna drag you down even more. Whooop-de-do!

Brian, Cedar Hill, TX (Sent Monday, April 28, 2008 4:08 PM)

Why is RNC whinning? At least they've ben running ads involving Jeremain Wright in Mississippi and North Carolina. The Republican party is toast.

Bee (Sent Monday, April 28, 2008 4:10 PM)

Nonsense -- people want to hold Senator Obama accountable for things he has never said, but we shouldn't hold Senator McCain accountable for the very things that issue from his own mouth???
Nonsense.
It is apparent that Senator McCain will run a don't believe what I say, believe how I explain it later campaign. Senator Obama's opponents use his every word against him (mostly out of context) and hold him accountable for everything anyone he has ever known has done or said. I say treat all of the candidates fairly and by the same standard. Can you hear me, MSM???

Senator McCain said the occupation in Iraq could last 100 years and he would be happy with that. He said these words -- no-one else did.

Kim, Pasadena, CA (Sent Monday, April 28, 2008 4:13 PM)

People will begin to listen when McCain calls for a DRAFT. I said DRAFT. Where does he think an expanded military will come from...THE DRAFT. Now lets see how fast people change their tune.

Bob, Chicago

Bob, Chicago (Sent Monday, April 28, 2008 4:15 PM)

DID THEY JUST SAY, "HEY! THAT'S TAKEN OUT OF CONTEXT!!!"
WHA!
TOO BAD

WDS KNOXVILLE TN (Sent Monday, April 28, 2008 4:16 PM)

We're all hoping that McCain wins. He and Bush are the best recruiters we've ever had.

Hamas (Sent Monday, April 28, 2008 4:18 PM)

Vicki, and Paul, and others who make their points, the RNC decried the NC ad. They asked them not to run it. The sarcasm kind of jumps around in your post, but either way, facts are your friends.

EJ, Florida (Sent Monday, April 28, 2008 4:19 PM)

media coverage of this campaign is truly bizarre. McCain feeds you BBQ and all his sins are forgiven. Hillary has no chance of winning enough delegates for the nomination and you still treat her as if her campaign counts. I've never heard or seen so many silly, pompous commentators bloviating in such a prolonged way, cepting at halftime at the Super Bowl. You seem to havve a vested interest in looking bad and making all politics sounds irrelevant. No wonder we get clowns like the current Administration.

rodeo, ellensburg, wa (Sent Monday, April 28, 2008 4:21 PM)

Hey, at least they didn't go after McCain's infidelity to his previous wife with his current wife. Seems he just left the wife and kids high and dry and now all of his assest are in Cindy's name... Hmm are we looking at a deadbeat dad here?

Jack Leson Los Angeles, Ca (Sent Monday, April 28, 2008 4:23 PM)

you know the Rev. Wright dramatization the press is orchestrating would have meant death to a presidential candidate a few years ago, but one has to wonder today with the widely held notion that the press is nothing more than an entertainment industry no different than any reality show or sit-com, will their smear campaign directed at obama really have much effect, I for one don't think so, the days of truth and un-biased coverage of any important issue seem to be just a memory, the corporate owned news agencies of today are just another tv show where all the actors regurgitate the words that are given them for a paycheck.

MK,MO (Sent Monday, April 28, 2008 4:29 PM)

How is this misleading when the words came out of McCain's mouth? When taken in context, McCain is misleading the American public that it's remotely possible to have a era of peace in Iraq. You think out of 1 billiom muslims, there aren't more than a few who will be willing to die to agitate the situation for the rest of their lives?

Talk about not knowing your enemy. It's one thing to fight for your principle, it's another to fight for your religion. America is destined to lose this war because we don't understand our enemy. You can't equate a religion to a ideology or political belief. You can compromise and negotiate on one, but it is not possible with the other. Keeping a American Army in Arabia for any amount of time is a insane idea at best. If Sunnis and Shites have fought for a thousand years, why would they let us off the hook over 10 or even 100 when were are invaders?

Mister Anderson (The Matrix) (Sent Monday, April 28, 2008 4:35 PM)

Bunch of babies. Next they'll be asking the networks to stop running video clips out of context. How boring would our politics be then?

Dave, Tn (Sent Monday, April 28, 2008 4:35 PM)

Ladies and gentlemen. Just when we thought we were going to see the last of The Clintons they show up in drag in the RNC. How can the party that eats its own complain about truth or the lack there of. Was it not the republicans who said John McCain had a black baby before the S.C.primary of Bush vs. McCain? Was it not McCain telling lies about Romney in Fla. just before the Fla. Primary this year? Is it not Clinton and McCain double teaming Obama in the hopes Clinton will be the democratic nominee? Perhaps when Clinton is eliminated and it is Obama vs. McCain the american voter will see the real McCain. Obviously sooner or later the media will be bored and start going after McCain. I mean after all going after Obama will loose its attraction soon.

Candi California (Sent Monday, April 28, 2008 4:36 PM)

As long as our troops are in Iraq, it will cost us money and American lives. That won't change in another 5, 50, or 100 years. The DNC ad makes no distinction between a war-time and a peace-time force, so the RNC has no basis for calling it misleading. John McCain's plan is bad for this country in any context.

Tony, Menasha, WI (Sent Monday, April 28, 2008 4:40 PM)

RNC ...Once again, think they can make rules for themselves but cry like babies when somebody plays the game....YOU want to get NASTY RNC....Well, as soon as Hillary steps out of the picture...Barack will get nasty ...but with the facts...and not the non-sense that you guy...advertise...YOU focus on a pastor....and yet contents that politics and religion, are not a part of each other...Wait until we associate McCain with the Racist pastor he has been associated with for awhile...Wait until we show how angry McCain can get....which makes him unstable...Barack will be passionate ...but stern and truthful..he will brush off the BS the RNC will try to apply to him....RNC you are a joke if you think we will stand by and let you throw dirt and you not get any back....GREAT REAL...YOUR days of making the rules and then breaking them ARE OVER!!!!!!!!!!!!

KW,Philadelphia,PA (Sent Monday, April 28, 2008 4:40 PM)

So now the RNC wants to whine and cry when the DNC quotes word for word what their ignorant candidate says. The RNC will have their hands full trying to explain away everything this idiot says!

Steve A Jonesboro IN (Sent Monday, April 28, 2008 4:43 PM)

Wow the DNC's add is misleading... And the Republicans are SOOO truthful. Also, by the republican dictionary, anyone wearing a flag pin is patriotic. Heck, Hitler could wear one and the Republicans would think hes the biggest patriot ever!

Willbag (Sent Monday, April 28, 2008 4:44 PM)

McCain's explanation of what he meant is ridiculous - Iraq is not Japan or Germany, and anyone who thinks that Iraq will submit to our "peacekeeping" presence in the heart of the Middle East for 100 years with no consequences does not understand anything about the problems we face there.

I know exactly what McCain meant and it's still completely batsh*t insane.

Bridget, Portland, OR (Sent Monday, April 28, 2008 4:44 PM)

MSNBC -- Please run the DNC ad -- as Howard Dean said on Meet the Press, if anyone thinks we could have peacekeeping troops in Iraq for 100 years and not be subjected to insurgent attacks throughout that time, they're deluding themselves.

TFMC, Seattle, Wash. (Sent Monday, April 28, 2008 4:44 PM)

Oh the RNC arguing on this is hillarious

tr (Sent Monday, April 28, 2008 4:46 PM)

Hilary wants a debate, lets debate!!
Clinton jumping on Barack Obama about William Ayers, the Weatherman, is one of the questions, and Jeremiah Wright. John McCain has now picked up on the William Ayers situation. Tom Hayden, the former radical from the '60s, has now written a piece which is basically saying, "Time out." And he writes this, "Hillary is blind to her own roots in the sixties. ... She was in Chicago for three nights during the 1968 street confrontations. ... She was involved in the New Haven defense of Bobby Seale during his murder trial in 1970, as the lead scheduler of student monitors.
"Most significantly in terms of her recent attacks on Barack, after Yale law school, Hillary went to work for the left-wing Bay Area law firm of Treuhaft, Walker and Burnstein, which specialized in Black Panthers and West Coast labor leaders prosecuted for being communists. Two of the firm's partners, according to Treuhaft, were communists and two others `tolerated communists.'
"All these were honorable words and associations in my mind, but doesn't she see how the Hillary of today would accuse the Hillary of the sixties of associating with black revolutionaries who fought gun battles with police officers, and defending pro-communist lawyers who backed communists? Doesn't the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, whom Hillary attacks today, represent the very essence of the black radicals Hillary was associating with in those days?"
Are we going to have a debate in November about past associations and pastors, or we going to have a debate about the war, health care and economy?

Ken Berry, St Augustine, Florida (Sent Monday, April 28, 2008 4:52 PM)

Howard Dean and anyone who agrees with him, it doesn't matter what the American people want in Iraq unless you're in Congress. The President is NOT a representative of the people. He is a leader. We ask him to have conviction and do what he thinks is best. You can't get a new boss at work just because the majority wants a pay raise and he won't dish one out.

Congress, the one currently led by Democrats in both houses, could have ended Iraq by now, but they still want to pay for it. AND REMEMBER, in 2003, more Democrats voted FOR war than voted AGAINST it.

It's just as much democrats' fault as republicans'. Period.

Oh, Papa, see the puppets dance! (Sent Monday, April 28, 2008 4:54 PM)

He said what he said. Envisioning a US "peacekeeping" force in Iraq analogous to Korea, Japan, Etc. is just INSANE! He is completely divorced from the reality of the Middle East. Of course, between "Bomb, bomb Iran" And "Anhialate Iran", what is the difference?

Obama '08

Richard, Chattanooga, TN (Sent Monday, April 28, 2008 4:59 PM)

Reading all these comments is very entertaining come September when the dnc finally has a canidate. Either way we will get to listen to rnc sound bites of Rodham Clinton comparing Obama to Osama, Obama asking Rodham Clinton if she remembers anything thing that happened during her eight years in the white house and dnc sound bites of a war loving, tax raising, same old washington politics canidate. I can hardly wait for the next presidental election, it should start in January 2009.

No good choices, Salt Lake City, Utah (Sent Monday, April 28, 2008 5:03 PM)

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