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Karl Rove helps Tennessee Democratic Party makes its case
Posted By katie allison granju
A PRESS RELEASE TODAY:
TNDP Chairman Gray Sasser calls on TNGOP to cease “grotesque” campaign tactics
National Republicans ashamed of Tennessee brand
Nashville- Sen. Bob Corker today dubbed his own 2006 campaign advertisements against U.S. Rep. Harold Ford, Jr. “grotesque.” Now, do the junior and senior senators from Tennessee have the courage to halt the Tennessee Republican Party’s deplorable tactics asked Tennessee Democratic Party Chairman Gray Sasser.
“TNGOP Chairwoman Robin Smith and company have tarnished the reputation of the entire state with their grotesque political attacks: they have perpetuated lies about a candidate’s religion, they have attacked a candidate’s wife, they have equated the war in Iraq to a religious crusade, and they have defied the request of Senator Lamar Alexander to remove at least one of those claims from their website,” Sasser continued.
“It’s high time for Senators Bob Corker and Lamar Alexander to put a stop to the Tennessee Republican Party’s shameful tactics; they are beneath the dignity of voters- Republicans, Democrats, and Independents- in the state of Tennessee.”
“The Tennessee Republican Party has issued time and again false rumors which have been condemned by RNC chairman Mike Duncan, Sens. John McCain, Lamar Alexander, and even Karl Rove. The American people even reject these tactics,” Sasser went on to say.
“In the last three Congressional special elections, voters in Illinois, Louisiana, and Mississippi have rejected these tactics. Now is the time for Tennessee’s senators to do the same,” Sasser concluded.
TNGOP attacks:
“I think people of faith see this battle completely differently, she (Robin Smith) said from her Nashville office this week. “Its not a battle over resources. This is a war that puts the Christian faith in direct opposition to the Muslim faith.” [The Culture Beat, Johnson City Press, "Faith in Iowa, Hope in Tennessee, but where's the Love?", http://www.theculturebeat.com/?p=407, Aug. 18, 2007]
“One day after McCain said it was inappropriate to use Obama’s middle name, state Republican Chairwoman Robin Smith said early Wednesday that she stands by the release and that the state GOP would continue to refer to the Democratic candidate as ‘Barack Hussein Obama’ . . . ‘John McCain has to be elected. Robin Smith doesn’t,’ she added. ‘We have a duty to inform the Republican base.’” [Knoxville News Sentinel, "TNGOP chair defends release about Obama," Feb. 27, 2008]
“The same state party that got in trouble with the RNC and McCain camp back in February for dropping the “Hussein” bomb now ‘welcomes’ Michelle Obama to Tennessee with a YouTube juxtapoxing (sic) her comments about pride in America with those of other Volunteer Staters explaining why they love America.” [Politico.com, Jonathan Martin, "Tennessee GOP plays patriotism card against Michelle Obama," http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/0508/Tennessee_GOP_plays_patriotism_card_against_Michelle_Obama_.html, May 15, 2008]
Republicans critical of Tennessee Republican Party attacks:
KARL ROVE (FOX NEWS) (emphasis mine)
“Rove said that the use of ‘Barack Hussein Obama’ would perpetuate the notion that Republicans were bigoted and would hurt the party.” [Marc Ambinder, TheAtlantic.com, "Rove: Don't 'Hussein' Obama", http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/19584, Feb. 27, 2008]
SEN LAMAR ALEXANDER (R-TN)
“Senator Alexander has talked wih Robin Smith, and she is removing the release and the photo from the website. She and the senator agreed it could be easily misinterpreted, taken out of context and considered inappropriate.” [VolunteerVoters.com, WKRN, "Alexander Drops the Hammer on TNGOP Romper Room," http://www.news2wkrn.com/vv/2008/02/27/alexander-drops-the-hammer-on-tngop-romper-room, Feb. 27, 2008]
SEN JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ)
“Senator McCain has made clear that he rejects these sort of tactics and will campaign on his record.” [NashvillePost.com, "McCain apology raises questions about state GOP," http://www.nashvillepost.com/news/2008/2/27/mccain_gop, Feb. 27, 2008]
CHAIRMAN MIKE DUNCAN (REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE)
“The RNC has notified the Tennessee GOP that they do not support nor agree with their approach. If they don’t agree to refrain from doing so, they will be publicly repudiated by the Republican National Committee.” [Jonathan Martin, Politico.com, "RNC warns Tenn. GOP on 'Hussein," http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/0208/RNC_warns_Tenn_GOP_on_Hussein.html, Feb. 27, 2008]
SEN BOB CORKER (R-TN)
“‘They were grotesque,’ Corker said of his own ads in an interview this week. ‘It was just the same old stuff.’ . . . The senator has advised Republican colleagues in tough races this year to resist national party ads that mention their opponents.’” [Washington Post, E.J. Dionne, "Brand on the Run," Feb. 27, 2008]
May 16th, 2008
Well, Robin Smith and her antics were all over the regular and cable TV news networks this evening. The reviews were not favorable, and all the commentators were very careful to specifically associate “Tennessee” with this despicable and outrageous behavior. It is bringing this state and its people the same unwanted and scandalous notoriety that the Scopes trial brought us in 1925. The American people are sick to death of the so-called “politics of personal destruction” that has been waged for years now by conservative Republicans, many of whom claim to be born again Christians—but whose actions make one wonder if they have ever set foot inside a church. The American people are not as stupid as the far right Republicans might think. We have all become wise to their antics. If the Tennessee GOP is smart, they will issue Robin Smith a pink slip. Every time she opens her mouth, voters bleed over to the Democrat side, and this in a year when they can least afford it. Even Republicans understand (and the smart ones are even admitting openly in TV interviews) the Republican Party is plunging headlong towards a cataclysmic Waterloo in November. The three recent Republican congressional losses in special elections are just the harbinger of the deluge yet to come. As one might expect, just like Hillary, many of them are in denial about it. When the floods come, denial is not a very good dam.