Hatch Disapproves Of Anti-Sotomayor Ad From Group He Once Supported

Sen. Orrin Hatch, (R-Utah), is distancing himself from a conservative organization's ad tying Judge Sonia Sotomayor to former Weather Underground member Bill Ayers, despite having raised more than $50,000 for the conservation group several years ago.

The Utah Republican called a spot run by the group Committee for Justice "pretty harsh" and "not the type of ad I would run," in a statement provided by his spokesperson to the Huffington Post.

Hatch, along with other Senate Republicans, has taken a hard line of questioning toward President Obama's nominee for the Supreme Court. But on Tuesday the CFJ brought the attacks to a much more aggressive plane. The group tied Sotomayor to the 1960s radical and Obama campaign scourge, Bill Ayers, in a 30-second spot that aired on its homepage.

The ad also claims that Sotomayor "led a group supporting violent Puerto Rican terrorists."

On Wednesday, Think Progress reported that Hatch had headlined a Georgetown fundraiser for CFJ in 2003. Asked if he agreed with the ad pushed by the group for which he once raised money, the senator's spokesperson, Andrea Saul, relayed the following message from Hatch himself: "I haven't seen the ad, but it sounds pretty harsh. Not the type of ad I would run."

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Comments

[MizLiz]

01:14 AM on 07/16/2009

I bet Bill Ayers is getting sick and tired of all this.

[Forest]

04:36 PM on 07/17/2009

Here's an interview w/Ayers:

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/11/17/ayers/?aim=/news/feature&source=rss

[greenie 61]

12:42 AM on 07/16/2009

Funny, he didn't mind slamming her with his ridiculous analysis on Hardball the other day.

[dynwitch]

12:22 AM on 07/16/2009

Good cop, bad cop routine. Seen it before. It's not fooling anyone. The Republican politicians let the fringe do their dirty work for them. Publicly they can pretend they're Highly Outraged. Privately they're handing out money and influence to those same groups.

[army193]

12:03 AM on 07/16/2009

Hatch himself: "I haven't seen the ad, but it sounds pretty harsh. Not the type of ad I would run." does this mean if he was to run ad like this it would be in color?

[johnfoirdfw]

10:26 PM on 07/15/2009

Poor Orrin is so angry. Methinks it is time for him retire. There was a time he could have mustered a more coherent response..

[Deja Peterson]

10:26 PM on 07/15/2009

what is this fixation with bill ayers?

[MimiGardner]

11:41 PM on 07/15/2009

Republicans seem to need a bogyman to scare people. Remember Willie Horton during the 1988 presidential campaign.

[MimiGardner]

09:19 PM on 07/15/2009

I've been skeptical of these republican statements of non-support ever since Bush's non-support for the swift boat "veterans" attacks on Kerry in 2004. It seems like republicans benefit from these kinds of ads while pretending not to support their messages. Very convenient.

[rich misty]

09:50 PM on 07/15/2009

Everything Republicans say boils down to the purest of lies.

[gettingood]

08:53 PM on 07/15/2009

The ad is so frustrating to hear. It's just rubbish. Is it me or have the right stooped lower than ever. I hope the latin news agencies run that garbage in Florida and show what is happening. They are asking for loses in the state in the next election ( I hope). They have really crossed the line.

[rich misty]

09:53 PM on 07/15/2009

I listen to Spanish talk radio once in awhile and they have already lost the show hosts, which is far more damaging than the Spanish anti-Republican ads they have and will run. It's not that they have lost the Spanish speaking vote, it's that they have motivated these people to actively campaign against Republicans.

[underoath]

07:58 PM on 07/15/2009

If conservative's feel that playing the race card to raise money is there best strategy more power to em because it really does show the hard right base's racism.

[StanMann]

07:13 PM on 07/15/2009

Hatch speaking from both sides of his handy dandy tie?

[Tom Joad]

05:09 PM on 07/15/2009

"Hatch knocks anti-Sotomayor Ad..."


..."I'll do the knocking up around here!" - Orrin Half-Hatched

[Catjya]

05:18 PM on 07/15/2009

I haven't liked Hatch,Specter, Danforth since the Clarence Thomas hearings.

[Forest]

05:04 PM on 07/15/2009

Hatch's "Pretty Harsh," characterization is--and I'm sure he realizes this-- a glaring understatement but a thoughtful statement in the true right direction. It will be telling to see which Republicans stand for and against such lowly tactics as those used by the CFJ and cheered on by extremists within "their" media umpires and party.
Do they have no decency?

[nini516]

04:56 PM on 07/15/2009

BS he'd run it. That's why these old school GOP men have to go. Attack/Fear/Racism/Sexism

[justoverit333]

04:56 PM on 07/15/2009

The CFJ circulates nothing but lies. And to think
of the many people who are members of the Party
of No who believe all of their spewing. not good

[ThinkCreeps]

04:55 PM on 07/15/2009

It must have been way over the line... can you imagine what you have to do to embarrass Hatch?

[Freesia2]

06:50 PM on 07/15/2009

He'd not be embarrassed and he'd like it well enough if he thought it would work.

I have no patience for this "distancing" business. If they ran tough on issues, ran ads and conducted debate on opposing views of issues even harshly - well that's politics. But that's not what they do. They stew up a mess of whatever they can grab that is meant to appeal to the worst impulses in people, strike the most fear, slap it on a tape and run it. They support colleagues who stand up and say it. Or rant it at rallies. They've done this for years. Lee Atwater trained them and the've been stellar.

He stuck his finger up and felt the wind changing. Too late. When you associate with people who do that sort of thing, much less donate to them, you are part of what they do. He's been palin' around. (Hey that's the GOP criteria isn't it?) He owns that ad.