Truth Test 1: What to believe in a Roberts vs. Slattery ad
5:30 p.m. Monday, July 21, 2008
"There is a difference between campaigning for the office and campaigning against somebody else."
According to a video on YouTube last August, Pat Roberts pledged to run a positive campaign based on his record.
But does his current ad against would-be Democratic candidate Jim Slattery hold up in the truth test?
Here is the first half of the ad.
"Senator Pat Roberts never stops working for Kansas. Community building...health care for more kids...Good paying jobs," the ad says.
The claims are pretty generic, anything that any good politician would want you to hear.
But listen to the second part. He actually goes after Democrat Jim Slattery even though Slattery hasn't won the party nomination yet.
"His opponent, Jim Slattery, for the past fourteen years, he was a Washington lobbyist," the ad says.
"I think it's slightly misleading," Abbie Hodgson said.
Web sites of interest
Senator Pat Robert's Web site is www.robertsforsenate.com.
Jim Slattery's Web site is www.slatteryforsenate.com.
Slattery Press Secretary Abbie Hodgson says the part about Slattery being a lobbyist is a bit of a stretch.
"Yes, he did do some lobbying. We've disclosed a list of all of his clients and the work that he's done," she said. "But his primary occupation was as an international trade lawyer."
We did some checking on our own and found out that Slattery was employed by a Washington DC law and lobbying firm working on some heavy duty cases as a lawyer and not as a lobbyist.
Stamp this one as a half-truth.
"Slattery worked for special interests. He was paid millions, over $4 million in one year," the ad says.
Hodgson says the salary was correct, but it came from his work as a lawyer, not a lobbyist.
"That was his salary. That one year, however, that one year was an anamoly," Hodgson said. "They had a large settlement. It was a case against Blackberry, the owner of the cell phones and gadgets that everyone uses."
Stamp that one as True.
Slattery Press Secretary Abbie Hodgson says the fact that Roberts is already targeting Slattery means that he sees him as a competitor in this race.
"Roberts is really concerned about this election and he sees himself as vunerable," Hodgson said.
49 News contacted the Pat Roberts campaign and asked them if they wanted to be interviewed for this story. They declined to talk today but said they might speak with us tomorrow.
Comments
Note: ktka.com does not necessarily condone the comments here, nor vouch for the factual claims made therein. Nor do we review every post.
Jul. 22, 2008 at 2:23 p.m. (Suggest removal)situveux1 (anonymous)
Wow, going to the other campaign to find "the truth." Interesting journalistic move. Nothing one sided about that.
I love that he did lobbying work but wasn't a lobbyist. Half-truth, huh? So how does that work...he can do two jobs but should only get criticized for one? I do health care work, but please don't call me a health care worker, whatever you do!!!
KTKA is at the bottom of the ratings so you'd think they'd be smart enough to put something out there that's better than the slop WIBW and KSNT are putting out, but I guess increasing ratings isn't at the top of their list...just campaigning for Democrats is.
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