Last Modified: Thursday, October 30, 2008 at 6:40 p.m.
Americans have come to expect the worst from campaign ads. Candidates from both major political parties are guilty of below-the-belt attacks on the opposition.
But a recent TV ad from Sen. Elizabeth Dole is shameful even by today's threshold for slime. It smacks of desperation, and it's unbecoming of a senator representing North Carolina. The ad essentially infers that her Democratic opponent, N.C. Sen. Kay Hagan, doesn't believe in God.
In the South, where strong faith is practically a requirement for public office, that's akin to suggesting that she and Satan are in business together.
Hagan is justifiably furious and has filed a defamation suit, although that may prove counterproductive. While the ad is intentionally deceptive – it ends with Hagan's picture and the voice of a woman proclaiming "there is no God," the clear (but false) impression being that Hagan was speaking – political speech is given wide constitutional latitude. (more…)
