Ted Kennedy Jr. Demands Linda McMahon Pull JFK Ads
share this story
HARTFORD, Conn. — A nephew of the late President John F. Kennedy is asking Connecticut's Republican candidate for Senate, Linda McMahon, to pull her political advertisement featuring the former president talking about tax cuts, saying it is misleading to voters.
The two-page letter from Edward M. Kennedy Jr., obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday, says McMahon "distorts the legacy of President Kennedy in order to mislead voters into thinking" that he would have supported her position on tax policy.
"Using President Kennedy's image in your ad gives your tax position false legitmacy," writes Kennedy, who lives in Connecticut. "I hope that you will also offer a retraction statement that clarifies the distinction between my uncles's policies and your own."
The 30-second spot has only appeared so far on McMahon's YouTube channel, where it was originally posted Sept. 16. A campaign spokesman said the ad will remain on YouTube. He did not rule out running it eventually on television.
"Kennedy proposed across-the-board tax cuts because he recognized that a high tax 'reduces the financial incentives for personal effort, investment and risk-taking,'" said spokesman Ed Patru, spokesman quoting the former president. "That was the case 47 years ago, and it's the case today."
The ad features grainy footage from 1963 of Kennedy discussing the economic importance of tax cuts, saying "every dollar released from taxation that is spared or invested would help create a new job." It ends with the words "A good idea then, a better idea now."
McMahon has voiced support for extending the soon-to-expire Bush-era tax cuts, including those for individuals making less than $200,000 and joint filers making less than $250,000 in adjusted gross income. The former wrestling executive argues those higher income brackets include many small businesses that are key to the economy.
Kennedy, the son of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, argued in his letter that the U.S. economic scenario was very different when the former president called for a reduction in taxes.
"In 1963, there was virtually no deficit and the top tax rate was 91 percent for income over $400,000," he wrote. "Today, the annual U.S. deficit is nearly $1.5 trillion and the top tax rate is 35 percent for income over $372,500."
The Kennedy family has challenged the use of old JFK footage to push for tax cuts in the past. In 2001, they asked a group of Republican consultants to spike a radio ad promoting a tax cut by the administration of President George W. Bush that included a clip of the late Democratic president pitching tax reductions in 1962. In 2003, the late senator and Caroline Kennedy, the late president's daughter, urged the conservative Club for Growth to pull ads pushing for a Bush tax cut that also used the name and image of JFK.
McMahon is challenging Democratic Attorney General Richard Blumenthal for the Senate seat being vacated by the retiring Sen. Chris Dodd. Unlike McMahon, Blumenthal supports extending the tax cuts for only individuals making less than $200,000 and joint filers making less than $250,000.
Loading comments… 
SUSAN HAIGH 09/22/10 07:24 PM ET Associated Press