Attack ad over the top? Alan Grayson compares opponent to Taliban.
In a campaign season of negative ads, it鈥檚 one of the nastiest.
In it, Florida Rep. Alan Grayson (D) 鈥� the man who once said the Republicans' health-care plan was for ill Americans to "die quickly" 鈥� calls Republican challenger Daniel Webster and compares him to 鈥渞eligious fanatics鈥� in Afghanistan and Iran.
But the stir it鈥檚 causing may end up helping Mr. Webster.
On Monday, the website a nonpartisan site sponsored by the Annenberg Public Policy Center, took the ad to task for being blatantly misleading.
It repeatedly runs clips of Webster saying wives should submit to their husbands. But the clips, asserts the website, are taken out of context. 鈥淚n fact,鈥� says the website, 鈥淲ebster was cautioning husbands to avoid taking that passage as their own. The unedited quote is: 鈥楧on鈥檛 pick the ones [Bible verses] that say, 鈥淪he should submit to me.鈥� 鈥� 鈥�
The ad makes other claims about Webster鈥檚 views, some of which 鈥� like the fact that he believes abortion should be illegal even in cases of rape 鈥� are true. But others, like its assertion that Webster would 鈥渄eny battered women 鈥� the right to divorce their abusers,鈥� factcheck.org calls a distortion. It鈥檚 based in legislation that Webster sponsored 20 years ago that would have given people the option of a 鈥渃ovenant marriage,鈥� which could only be dissolved in cases of adultery.
Congressman Grayson, meanwhile, defended his ad.
鈥淲hat鈥檚 not out of context by any stretch of the imagination is the fact that he has a terrible record on women鈥檚 rights,鈥� he told MSNBC, noting that Webster subscribes to the tenets of the Institute of Basic Life Principles, which believes women should not work outside the home, and once voted to eliminate health care for battered women on the basis that battery is a preexisting condition.
Webster鈥檚 campaign, meanwhile, issued a statement Monday from Webster鈥檚 wife Sandy calling the ad 鈥渟hameful.鈥�
It鈥檚 not the first time Grayson has been taken to task over his ads. An ad earlier this month contended that Webster was a draft dodger who evaded military service in Vietnam because 鈥渉e doesn鈥檛 love his country.鈥� 鈥淚t鈥檚 one of the nastiest we have seen so far this year, and it鈥檚 false,鈥� wrote factcheck.org in .
Florida鈥檚 Eighth District, where the two men are running, has become a hot contest as Republicans try to take back what has long been a GOP stronghold until Grayson was elected in 2008. Although it鈥檚 characterized by relatively moderate voters 鈥� a quarter of whom are independents 鈥� it鈥檚 now home to a race with a sharp ideological divide, between a devout Baptist who admires tea party politics and a Democratic incumbent who has become a 鈥減oster boy for the congressional left,鈥� according an analysis by Time magazine.
Grayson, while clearly facing a battle for reelection, has the upper hand with fundraising, with a $4 million warchest.
Lest he be associated only with attack ads, Grayson released an 鈥� almost warm and fuzzy 鈥� ad supporting his own campaign at the same time that it put out the 鈥淭aliban Dan鈥� spot.
