Despite advice, Bills' TV ad attacks Klobuchar on Petters

GOP Senate candidate Kurt Bills is operating on a fraction of Amy Klobuchar’s campaign budget, hence the choice of subject matter for his TV ad is kind of  a critical one. Tom Scheck at MPR writes: “The ad alleges DFL Sen. Amy Klobuchar did not pursue charges against convicted swindler Tom Petters because he gave her campaign contributions. Klobuchar's campaign said the allegations are false and are being pushed by a desperate candidate who is behind in the polls. The ad says Klobuchar decided against prosecuting Petters even though she had evidence of his crimes. … [Petters] trustee, Doug Kelley, said the allegations in Bills' ad are preposterous. ‘To base a serious ad on testimony which has been so thoroughly discredited is irresponsible,’ Kelley said. ‘I would expect a serious candidate for high office in this state to go out and be careful about allegations such as that.’ Kelley, who said he is a lifelong Republican, said Osskopp approached him earlier this year to see if he had anything the campaign could use against Klobuchar. Kelley said he told Osskopp he was barking up the wrong tree.” In other words … probably not the best choice of material.
On another ad front … Sasha Aslainian of MPR reports: “A new television ad from supporters of the proposed constitutional amendment on marriage claims that if marriage is redefined, children could be taught about same-sex marriage in school. … This fourth ad from Minnesota for Marriage, the main group working to pass the amendment, features a Massachusetts couple, David and Tonia Parker. Massachusetts became the first state to legalize same-sex marriage in 2004. Two years later, the Parkers sued their son's school after his teacher read a book to second graders that featured a prince marrying another prince. … Fact-checkers, including Minnesota Public Radio's Poligraph, have labeled the claims in the ad ‘misleading,’ since the Massachusetts school was using the book as part of diversity curriculum which pre-dates the legalization of same-sex marriage.” Do you detect a theme?
Even more cash is flowing at the two amendment issues. Rachel Stassen-Berger of the Strib says: “According to public records, two big donors have given Minnesota for Marriage, the main effort to pass the amendment to define marriage as only the union of one man and one woman, $550,000. Grace Church in Eden Prairie gave the group $50,000 and the Minnesota Family Council, which works in conjunction with Minnesota for Marriage, transferred over $500,000. … The campaign to defeat the voter ID amendment, called Our Vote Our Future, also [saw] a large influx of cash in the last few days. St. Paul's TakeAction Political Fund, which has been working closely with the anti-voter ID campaign, transferred over $23,000 on Thursday; America Votes, out of Washington, DC, ponied up $100,000 and the national arm of the AARP donated $12,000 on Tuesday.” The slide in enthusiasm for the voting amendment has been kind of amazing.


Despite advice, Bills' TV ad attacks Klobuchar on Petters | MinnPost