Campaign ad invoking Sandy draws fire
One radio ad in a South Jersey race invoked the coming hurricane to criticize incumbent Republican Congressman Jon Runyan.
Campaign ad invoking Sandy draws fire
When Sandy hit the East Coast, destroying homes and leaving millions stranded without power, politics was largely put on hold. But one radio ad in a South Jersey race invoked the coming hurricane to criticize incumbent Republican Congressman Jon Runyan.
The ad from Democrat Shelley Adler's campaign begins with an announcer saying:
“They’re calling it Frankenstorm – a nor’easter inside of a hurricane. In New Jersey we’ve seen acts of nature do real damage. We’re also seeing our own member of congress do real damage in Washington. Jon Runyan has been in congress only two short years, and already he’s voted over and over again against New Jersey workers and families.”
Sounds of wind and rain play in the background.
Today, Runyan called on Adler to apologize and pull the spot off the air, though Adler’s staff said it has already been pulled down. Adler, whose campaign sponsored the ad, is challenging Runyan in a district that includes Ocean County, much of which lies along the Jersey shore. It is one of the counties included the federal disaster declaration. The ads began running Saturday, as the storm built and many braced for its impact. Adler spokesman Michael Muller said that the campaign asked to have it pulled down on Tuesday, though he couldn't say exactly when the spot stopped running. Much of the storm’s damage had already been done by that point, but he defended the timing, calling it a "pre-storm" ad.
"Shelley Adler should immediately take down this ridiculous and insulting ad, and publicly apologize to the people of Ocean and Burlington Counties, many of whom have been devastated by Hurricane Sandy," Runyan Campaign Manager Kristin Antonello said in a news release."Shelley Adler's campaign has been dishonest and nasty from the start, but she should be embarrassed by her decision to ever run this radio ad. It really brings her judgment into question."
The ad concludes with Adler’s voice saying she approves the message. Muller said the Adler camp spent $4,000 to $5,000 on the ad, and defended it in a statement Thursday.
"It is appalling that Congressman Runyan, in the middle of this huge catastrophe, is trying to bring politics into the relief effort. What Congressman Runyan is trying to do is to divert attention from his record on disaster relief. In the guise of calling attention to an ad, which in no way denigrates or minimizes the storm that was impending at the time it was released, he is trying to proactively turn his back on inspection of his record as it relates to disaster relief."
Muller cited Runyan's votes for GOP budgets that some analysts have said would result in less aid for disaster relief.
Anyone that votes for Adler should go straight to h-e-double hockey sticks for supporting anyone as low class as to run an add about the storm. Loser.— Justicek- Hmmmm. Vote for someone who clearly has poor taste or cast a ballot for a complete meathead. It is difficult.— Jabey
- Complete low life politician.— rugbyjt
- Anyone that votes for Rmoney should go straight to h-e-double hockey sticks for supporting anyone as low class as to run a phony, opposite-to-stated-needs "relief effort" to pretend he cares about the "47% parasites" who lost everything while he CONTINUES TO CAMPAIGN. Loser.— JeffJenk
- Is Runyan still in playing shape?— demise1893
- Classless lady versus Meat-head? Glad I don't reside in Jersey....LOL!!!— MrBigDizzle
- Who did the Inky endorse for this congressional seat?— FletcherT
typical pathetic democrat, attempting to exploit a tragedy for political gain. but what should you expect from the party that gave you jim mcgreevey, jon corzine, robert torricelli, sharpe james, rob andrews and robert menendez?— hannibal barca- Desperate DemocRat Adler is following the Obama/Chicago/EvilEmanuel doctrine - "never let a good crisis go to waste". Shameful and unethical.— ObamaSolyndra
- The INQ Editorial Board endorsed Mrs. Adler; is a revokation of that unwise endorsement forthcoming?— Mtown_Quaker
- I suppose democrats can call hurricane Sandy "Frankenstorm" then it's fair to call Obummer the "FrankenPresident" because Sandy is the worse hurricane ever Obummer is by far the worse President ever, just look at the historical economic numbers as well as his taking over 1/6 of the economy with ObamaCare. Democrats who are standing in line with gas with gas cans just think, all things considered if Obummer was not President gas was $2.00 cheaper, Having to stand in line for gas at $3.60 is adding insult to injury. Moreover, perhaps if Obummer had allowed the Keystone pipeline to progress and had allowed more drilling all over country there would have been more gasoline available they would not have to stand in line for four hours. Maybe your wait would have been five minutes as opposed to four hours as a result of Obummer energy policies. One thing is for sure if Obummer is re-elected it does not get better, it will get worse exponentially worse.— Speak-truth-2-power
Jonathan Tamari is the Inquirer’s correspondent in Washington, where he follows the Philadelphia area’s interests and representatives. Tamari comes to D.C. after two years as a beat writer reporting on the Philadelphia Eagles and the NFL (where, a political source once told him, there are at least rules against hitting below the knees). He previously wrote about politics and government from Trenton, reporting on the characters and color of New Jersey state government.Jersey born and bred, Tamari now lives in the capital city, where he is looking for stories, places to run, soccer bars and good meals.
Reach him at jtamari@phillynews.com.
Follow Jonathan on Twitter: @JonathanTamari.
