MILLER’S LATEST AD IS A COMPLETE STRETCH, AT BEST

I generally don’t waste my time debunking frivolous political advertisements because — maybe I’m foolishly optimistic in saying this — I have enough faith that the majority of the general electorate possesses the ability to siphon through most of the garbage. Plus, most ads in that category are so ridiculously hyperbolic that it’s hard to do anything but feel sorry for the candidate or committee that wasted a large amount of money producing and airing it.

But occasionally a spot is cut that has just the right amount of half-truths yet just the right amount of feigned credibility to successfully mislead voters. A perfect example of this was an ad by 2nd Congressional District challenger Rob Miller unveiled last night during the presidential debate attacking Rep. Joe Wilson.

One TPS reader called the ad “sneaky” and quite effectively exposed Miller’s misinformation by saying, “He is running on ‘balancing the budget.’ Does anyone really believe that a [Speaker Nancy Pelosi]-run House of Representatives is going to give a crap about balancing the budget?”

The reader added, “[He's] afraid of the word ‘Democrat.’ He doesn’t put Democrat on his signs or in his commercials. He doesn’t want you to know that he would go to Washington and support Pelosi’s majority.”

Something else Miller doesn’t tell voters in the ad is that the four times he alleges Wilson “voted to give himself a pay raise” (here, here, here, and here) came on considering Transportation and Treasury appropriations bills.

While those bills (which Miller’s fellow Democrats Reps. James Clyburn and John Spratt also voted for) did include small Congressional pay raises, they also included funding for our maritime fleet, highway construction and highway safety, housing programs that help individuals with disabilities, programs to combat drug trafficking and a number of other great things.

The bottom line is it’s an appropriations bill — it is ripe with both good and bad. Not to mention the fact that by law, Congress automatically receives a pay raise every year.

So, before folks go believing everything they see on television, it’s best to encourage them to double check all of the facts. This site excluded, of course, since I’m always right.

More than anything though, it shows Miller has become quite desperate to attack Wilson; an indication he either knows he’s going to lose or he can smell victory. From what I know about the race, I would assume the former.

I give him credit for trying though. As I know all too well, unseating a sitting Congressman is incredibly difficult if not impossible, even in an anti-incumbent year like 2008. Even more so when that representative hasn’t done everything and then some to warrant re-election.