Patty Wetter-lying?

From the good folks at BvW...

Patty Wetterlying

I’m not generally one to get into an alley fight, but it’s time to acknowledge that Patty Wetterling has become Patty Wetterlying.

With the new Majority Watch poll and recent SurveyUSA poll showing improved support for Wetterlying, with Nightline telling the nation that the Foley scandal may have saved her campaign, it’s time to point out with renewed energy that Wetterlying built up this support largely by running ads that are not true.

In fact, her entire campaign was birthed by breaking her word. As this press release in May from the MN GOP said, Wetterlying said a number of times that she was not going to run for the 6th District seat. And yet, when it was clear she was not going to get the Senate nomination, she broke her word and ran in the 6th District anyway.

Wetterlying’s second campaign ad tried to portray Bachmann as a tax hiker. It was false on several counts.

• It said Bachmann wanted to raise your taxes by 23%, which was not true. Bachmann has expressed interest in the idea of a national sales tax, as she does in anything that could cut taxes, but she was some reservations about it and thinks it should be debated.
• The ad, in its original form (it has since been changed) failed to mentioned this figure of 23% came out of a plan for a national sales tax.
• The ad didn’t say that this national sales tax would eliminate other taxes such as the federal income tax and payroll taxes, and that therefore your net tax burden would not increase, and indeed for many it would go down.
• In addition, see Mitch Berg’s great post pointing out Wetterlying tried a similar approach in 2004.

Wetterlying’s third campaign ad capitalized on the Foley scandal. The ad infamously says “Congressional leaders have admitted covering up the predatory behavior of a congressman who used the Internet to molest children.”

• As has been amply discussed here, no Congressional leaders have admitted to any cover-up. Wetterlying herself even admitted live on CNN that no Congressional leader has said any such thing.
• Foley has not been charged with “molesting” anyone. This charge is simply untrue. Wetterlying tries to make it true by expanding the definition of molestation.

A couple of recent mailings from the DFL on Wetterlying’s behalf repeat the false charges of her tax ad.

• The flyers say Bachmann wants to raise taxes 23%, but don’t mention that other taxes would be cut, so that consumption would be taxed, not income.
• The flyers say Republicans have called Bachmann “crazy”, but provide no source for such a charge.

Patty Wetterling herself has allowed her campaign to be characterized by untruths.

That is why she will not be known only for her admirable work on child safety issues.

She will be known as Patty Wetter-lying.

My biggest beef personally, aside from those put forth by Jeff Kouba, is the fact that although she claims to be a child advocate, Patty advocates the killing of children in their most vulnerable state--while in what should be the safety of a mother's womb.

If a child isn't safe in its own mother's womb, then where in the world can it be safe?