Weigel

Topic of Cancer

Derek Hunter wields the clue-bat true in this WTF-flavored piece about the new Priorities USA ad. (It hasn’t run on TV yet, but PUSA’s Bill Burton has said it was “shipped” to stations.) First the ad.

I’m actually not bothered by an ad that raises the specter of death if the wrong candidate wins. Isn’t that what the various “so-and-so will cut so many billions from the military” ads are basically about? The problem, as Hunter explains, is that the screwed-by-Bain Mrs. Soptic had health insurance in 2002 and 2003, but quit her job. Would the Soptics’ lives have been healthier and more complete had GST neve fired the main breadwinner? Sure. But there’s a misleading assertion right at the center of the ad. And the Obama campaign had previously featured Soptic on a call (I don’t think it’s all that rotten for campaigns and Super PACs to mine the same sources for ads), with Stephanie Cutter thanking him for his story, months before she claimed she didn’t know the whole story. Better vetting, please.