Station Refuses Sheehan Ad

It is being reported that one Utah television station is refusing to air the Cindy Sheenan antiwar ad. Gold Star Families for Peace had been running the ad there in connection with President Bush's visit to Salt Lake City today.

NARAL Communications Director Resigns

The fallout over NARAL Pro-Choice America's anti-Roberts ad appears to have led to the ousting of the group's Communications Director, who sent the following e-mail to supporters this afternoon.

* * * *

Dear Friends --

Today will be my last day with NARAL Pro-Choice America. I've been thinking for a while that I would most likely leave after the Supreme Court nomination fight was over, and by leaving now I can spend the next two weeks in Cape Cod with my family relaxing, instead of trying to find a place with good cell phone reception..

I'm very proud of the work I've done here in the past two years, and especially proud of the leadership role this organization is taking both in the current Supreme Court debate, and in its efforts to change the dynamics of the political debate around reproductive freedom.

You'll no doubt be hearing from me when I get back to town at the end of the month and start thinking about what I do next, but if you have some urgent need to speak to me before then, the best bet will be to try Susan's cell phone at xxx-xxx-xxxx.

Otherwise, you can always reach me at my home number of xxx-xxx-xxxx or [by e-mail].
__________________________
David E. Seldin
Director of Communications
NARAL Pro-Choice America

* * * *

In the meantime, the Alabama abortion-clinic nurse who appeared in the ad defended it today as "confusing, but not false".

West Virginia Senate Race

It is one of the goals of this website to provide comprehensive coverage of the political advertisements for national office that are run during the 2006 campaign cycle. Last week, the National Republican Senatorial Committee began a two-week run of this ad, the first of that cycle. Entitled "Change", the ad criticizes Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) for having become more liberal since being first elected to the Senate in 1952. Donations to the NRSC to keep the ad on the air can be made here.

The Byrd campaign responded with an advertisement of its own, blasting "out-of-state special interests" for "running false attack ads". Byrd's ad can be viewed here, and donatations to keep it on the air can be made here.

The nonpartisan Factcheck.org provides useful criticism of both ads.

Cindy Sheehan

The Raw Story reports on this ad (in Quicktime format) featuring Cindy Sheehan, the mother of a soldier killed in Iraq, who has been protesting outside of President Bush's Crawford ranch. According to the report, the antiwar group Gold Star Families for Peace will be spending $15,000 to air the ad on Crawford cable channels throughout August. Donations to GSFP can be made here.

John Roberts

Unfortunately, the controversy over NARAL Pro-Choice America's anti-Roberts ad took place before we launched this blog. NARAL has removed the ad from its website, but Factcheck.org, the nonpartisan consumer advocate that called the ad "false", still has it available for viewing here.

Donations to NARAL's effort to defeat the nomination of John Roberts to the United States Supreme Court can be made here. Donations to the American Center for Law and Justice, which has been running ads supporting the Roberts nomination, can be made here.

UPDATE: Although the ad is down, the debate continues. See here.

Welcome

Welcome to a new blog dedicated to coverage of political advertising. Once we're up and running, we hope to be your one-stop spot for viewing and debating political ads.