The GOP primary race for Attorney General between incumbent Troy King and challenger Luther Strange gets more heated by the day. According to the slung mud, Republican voters have one choice to make on June 1: embrace gambling corruption or embrace Big Oil.
This is the first I’ve seen of this ad paid for by Alabamians for Luther Strange. It starts with “Troy King put the Attorney General’s office up for sale, and it’s not the first time.” (headlines from 1954 and 1951 flash on the screen) “Corrupt relationships developed between gambling operators and politicians that led to the murder of attorney general candidate Albert Patterson.” But the voice-over makes no distinction between then and now, in fact, the ad ends with: “Troy King. Responsible for bringing gambling corruption back to Alabama? Bingo.”
King-corrupt-gambling-murder-candidate-Bingo. How highly does this rank on your inflammatory index?
Click here to view the embedded video.
And from the other side…
When I first wrote about the anti-Strange website and its accompanying attack ad, information about the media-funding PAC wasn’t available yet. Now it is, though there are no surprises. Organized May 5, the Protecting Alabamians Against Washington Lobbyists PAC (PAAWL) is chaired by Stan Pate and lists Kenneth Sealy as its treasurer. The only other information listed is the PAAWL’s purpose:
To educate the public regarding the true causes of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the role lobbyists played in creating the crisis.
Does this give anyone else pause? Politicizing an ongoing disaster is bad enough, but politicizing it on a website dedicated to smearing a current candidate for office is even worse. Alongside alleged “proof” of Strange’s history of oil industry lobbying ties on the website is a photo stream of the current oil spill in the Gulf.
Adding to the Deepwater Horizon allusion is this ad paid for by Troy King for Attorney General. The most potent part of the voice-over holds no punches: “Now we know that Luther Strange put the interests of the oil companies that are destroying the Gulf ahead of yours. He limited their liability for paying for what they’ve done to us. Makes you wonder, who else did Luther the lobbyist sell us out to?”
Click here to view the embedded video.
King’s campaign had already set up this website which introduces Strange as a 30-year lobbyist “who has taken dirty campaigning to a whole new low.”
A new low compared to what?
Further reading: both GOP candidates spar over qualifications for office in today’s Birmingham News.
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