Dole Ad Fabricates Audio Of Opponent Yelling "There Is No God"

Falling behind in her reelection race, Sen. Elizabeth Dole has uncorked one hell of a charge: The Democrat running against me is godless.

Dole's 30-second ad, which is running on television in North Carolina but has not (understandably) been promoted by the GOP, uses a September fundraiser co-hosted by 40 people, including a representative of the Godless America PAC, to falsely accuse Democrat Kay Hagan of being an atheist herself.

The end of the ad features a picture of Hagan with a female voice yelling "there is no God!" -- the clear implication is that the voice is Hagan's. In fact, the Democratic candidate is a Sunday School teacher and an elder at her Presbyterian church.

The Charlotte Observer reported Wednesday morning that Hagan's campaign is seeking a "cease and desist" order against Dole's new attack.

"A leader of the Godless Americans PAC recently held a secret fundraiser in Kay Hagan's honor," the ad begins, showing some ominously blurred footage, ostensibly of the event in question. The ad then quotes the group's Ellen Johnson making atheist claims on two cable news shows. Summing up, the spot asks: "Godless Americans and Kay Hagan. She hid from cameras, took Godless money. What did Hagan promise in return?"

Two weeks ago, when the National Republican Senatorial Committee launched a similar attack, the Fayettville Observer described it as "the nastiest, most misleading, negative ad of the campaign."

Watch:

If the spot reeks of desperation, it's not hard to understand why. According to the Pollster.com average of all surveys taken for the race, Dole fell behind Hagan in the polls in mid-September, with her position worsening ever since.

UPDATE: The Hagan campaign has issued two response ads, as well as a prepared statement to be delivered by Hagan herself.

State Senator and U.S. Senate Candidate Kay Hagan

Remarks as prepared

October 29, 2008 press conference

* Thank you for coming today. I know this was called at short notice, and I appreciate you being here for this.
* Let's get right to it. Elizabeth Dole should absolutely be ashamed of herself.
* I don't know what things were like when she grew up in North Carolina, but the North Carolina I was raised in would NEVER condone this kind of personal slander.
* I can't begin to tell you how upset I am that she has attacked my Christian faith.
* She's been in Washington for too long, gotten too close to George Bush and the special interests and this is what she's become.
* I am appalled at these tactics. This is politics of the worst kind, and it's been rejected by North Carolinians at every level. This is so unbecoming of the woman she claims to be.

* I have taught Sunday school. I'm an elder in this church, where the Hagan family has attended for over 100 years. I go on mission trips. I was raised going to Sunday school and church every week. And I raised my children that way.
* On Christmas Eve, we attend the 11:00 evening service, then early on Christmas mornings, my children and husband and I go to the Bell House and cook breakfast for the residents there. My family, my community and my church are the anchors of my life.
* If Senator Dole wants to pass judgment on my faith, that's her right - but it's not what my faith teaches.
* This is a fabricated, pathetic ad.

* I am outraged...That is not my voice at the end of the ad, and I do not share their beliefs.
* This was an event with nearly 40 hosts, including an ambassador and a sitting U.S. Senator (John Kerry).
* We have already contacted our lawyers and are proceeding with a cease and desist order sent to Elizabeth Dole.
* This kind of politics should not be tolerated.
* The politics of George Bush won't create one new job, lower the cost of health care, or do one lick of good for North Carolina.
* At their core, Americans aren't Democrat or Republican, red or blue - they're Americans, plain and simple. We ALL love our country, and we all value the role of faith in American life.
* Shame on anyone who says differently.
* Congress just had to bailout Wall Street, workers' retirement savings are out the window, people are genuinely concerned about keeping their job in this tough economic climate, and Elizabeth Dole is trying to talk about ANYTHING but the issues.
* This attack speaks volumes about her personally and politically, but more importantly, it speaks to the lack of leadership she's shown on behalf of North Carolinians. At this critical point in American history, why isn't Elizabeth Dole talking about what she's done for North Carolinians and what she's planning to do if re-elected?
* This is exactly why people in North Carolina are supporting me - I have real, concrete proposals to help fix what's broken in Washington and advocate on behalf of working families. I've been talking about the issues and ensuring North Carolinians know what real leadership looks like.
* Elizabeth Dole is just relying on the same old, tired rhetoric that divides people instead of bringing them together, and that's the last thing people in North Carolina want right now.

Comments

[jondcarpenter]

07:41 AM on 11/04/2008

Continued:

To watch an advertisement that ends with the picture of the opposing candidate, and a voiceover that is clearly supposed to be that candidate saying "there is no God..." is truly shocking. To then find out that the voiceover is, in point of fact, someone else's voice entirely, is really unbelievable.

Despite everything that is good about this post, I would have liked to see you address the broader significance of this debate. Yes, Senator Dole's campaign is clearly dispicable. But what does it say about our country when a candidate thinks this kind of thing would work? I am interested in hearing your opinion on why being a non-religious candidate should even matter in the first place, or why associating with constituents who are non-believers would be a bad thing. The only other drawback to this post is the polls chart. While it is important to your argument that Senator Dole's actions have been out of desperation because she is falling behind in the polls, I think you could have made that case with numbers. The chart is distracting, especially in the midst of several other interactive videos already included in the post. That said, however, this blog entry is important and should fuel further dialogue over the role of religion and culture in political campaigns.

[jondcarpenter]

07:41 AM on 11/04/2008

Seth,

Thanks for bringing attention to this type of politicking. Sometimes there is a tendency to just accept the worst kinds of political mudslinging as "part of tne game," but you've done an excellent job outlining why this goes beyond the realm of what can be tolerated. The North Carolina Senate race between Republican Elizabeth Dole and Democrat Kay Hagan has turned extremely ugly in the weeks leading up to election day, and the example you observe in your post is perhaps the most significant.

In my blog, I attempt to look at the role being played by culture in American politics. At times it is difficult to pass a normative judgment on this role. Yet, it often takes form in a particularly nasty, and simultaneously irrelevant attack that causes political discussion to devolve into one candidate pointing fingers at the other for being "Godless" (and for associating with other Godless people).

The structure of your post was very helpful for me in coming to understand the facts of these circumstances. Although you clearly took a heavily opinionated approach in describing Mrs. Dole's campaign tactics, you were able to back everything up with facts, and more directly, actual video. I also appreciated that the title of your post drew attention to the fact that the very premise of Mrs. Dole's television advertisement is a lie.

[kycatfan]

10:14 AM on 11/03/2008

What neither Dole nor Hagan seem to understand is that by accepting a position as a representative from their state, they are representing ALL North Carolinians--not just the ones who share their particular narrow ideology. The Godless Americans are absolutely as entitled to be a part of this process as North Carolina Muslims, Mormons, Jews for Jesus, agnostics, backwoods rednecks, conservative right wing fundamentalists, Hindus, stone god worshippers, pro-choice supporters, pro-lifers, whoever. As long as any of these subgroup members are American citizens, they they have a constitutional right to contribute to a campaign, vote, run for office, and otherwise participate in the American government.

At least the Godless Americans wouldn't invoke Jesus's name to justify everything they do! That's a lot scarier, in my opinion. We're in a state full of THAT insanity.

[GlobalConvergence]

02:17 PM on 11/02/2008

A Godless response to Dole's ad AND to Hagan's response.

(Check it out)!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Q20ygUBdJBc

[waxboy]

10:46 AM on 11/02/2008

Even if this is true, I'd rather believe there is no God than call myself a Christian and behave in this way. What a hypocrite.

You’re starting to sound as desperate as the McCain campaign.

[jazzchantoozie]

06:15 AM on 11/01/2008

Being called an atheist is "one hell of a charge"?? WTF???

This makes me so angry. Not Dole's ad - but the idea in American that this is some sort of slur.

Honestly. In terms of all the things that are on their way out after eight years, can we not also make 'fear and hatred of atheism' one of them, please? Can we perhaps move to the acceptance that it's perfectly possible to lead a moral and good life without believing in a supernatural being?

And people wonder why Richard Dawkins gets so fired up...

[Verona1912]

09:18 PM on 10/31/2008

This is what I'd call a "Hail Mary" ad.

[JTyroler]

05:13 PM on 10/31/2008

Dole should be ashamed of herself, not just for this despicable ad, but there was mention that Sen. Dole spends very little time in her home state of North Carolina.

[SatyriDon]

08:47 AM on 10/31/2008

McCain Employs ‘Elizabeth Dole Strategy’ Against Obama
http://satiricalpolitical.com/?p=4231

[uhave2bkidding]

11:33 PM on 10/30/2008

D is for despicable
O is for ogre
L is for lying
E as in enough, and The End.

Buh-bye Libby

[SecondBase]

02:56 PM on 10/30/2008

INCOMING:

From the Independent Weekly, Durham, NC's alternative-newsweekly...

[ "...Both ads feature shadowy photographs of Hagan standing next to a nameless gray-haired man—presumably one of those atheists to whom the Democrat is allegedly indebted. He is in fact, Charles Frederick (Rick) Stone III, who currently studies theology at the Harvard Divinity School. Until his 2007 move to Boston, Stone lived in Greensboro and taught Biblical studies at Greensboro College, which is affiliated with the United Methodist Church, and Guilford College, which draws on Quaker tradition..." ]

http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A267990

[qshio]

02:45 PM on 10/30/2008

Ridiculous. Will no one mention that it would be okay if she were an atheist? That's it's okay to talk to atheists? Even accept their donations?

http://nearearth.wordpress.com/2008/10/30/elizabeth-dole-go-to-hell/

[zoe99]

07:17 PM on 10/30/2008

It's not okay! It can rub off! It has been extensively documented that devout Christians, Jews, and Muslims who stand next to an atheist for an extended period of time (anything longer than 5 minutes) run a high risk of catching atheism.

Happens all the time. Thank God Liddy Dole has never met an atheist!

[Gatorgal]

09:41 AM on 10/30/2008

Please send a few bucks to Kay Hagan so NC (and the rest of us) can have a real senator who is not full of hate. These repugs seem to have reinterpreted Jesus' message. IT WAS LOVE NOT HATE1

Donate at actblue.com

[uhave2bkidding]

11:10 PM on 10/30/2008

Just made a donation with pleasure, if there is one Republican senator who represents the old guard its Dole, she still lives in the Watergate! Perhaps its the ghost of Nixon that inspires her to lie and make fraudulent claims against Hagan. The people of NC know what they have in Elizabeth Dole, the prototype for Palin, someone who will lie repeatedly to get what they want. This country needs better than either of them have to offer. Go Hagan!

[Markinvest]

09:21 AM on 10/30/2008

After seeing this outrageous add by Dole - how can you not give even $5.00 to the Hagan for Senate Campaign. We need to make Dole pay for this!!
https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/entity/18560

[athenasword]

03:48 AM on 10/30/2008

This sort of garbage politics can't be tolerated.

Send a donation $$$ to Kay to help her fight this smear and win against Dole (even better, call Sen. Dole to let her know you did!). Clearly it is time to show Liddy the door.

Donate here :
Link: http://www.actblue.com/