Little Boy Brad breaks his pledge

To no one's surprise, Little Boy Brad Carson has already broken his pledge to stop his negative attack ads. He's again trying to muddy the waters on the abortion issue with a radio ad saying that Tom Coburn's trying to hide his record on abortion. This ad is a clear desperation move as Carson's campaign slips downward. It is part of what appears to be a nationwide effort to confuse pro-life voters as to who really stands with them on their motivating issue. (See my earlier entries here and here on Chris Matthews' wild claim on "Hardball" that President Bush isn't really pro-life.)

Carson's radio ad has a heartbeat sound in the background, and features a very familiar voice telling a series of what are probably half-truths at best, worded to make it sound like Tom Coburn is out taking a machete to every pregnant woman in Oklahoma. The heartbeat stops after this line: "Tom Coburn is the only person in this race who has personally committed abortions."

The ad is not from an independent organization. It's paid for by Carson for Senate, Inc., and is tagged with Brad Carson's personal approval.

This is low-down and dirty. Brad Carson has a legislative record and a personal commitment to legal abortion. Tom Coburn is an eloquent defender of the unborn and has the legislative record to back up his words. Here is the factsheet from National Right to Life comparing the records of Carson and Coburn on the sanctity of human life. As an obstetrician, Coburn has twice had to perform surgeries to save a pregnant woman's life due to an ectopic pregnancy.

Here's what the Coburn campaign says about the radio ad:

Radio ads with the "approved by Brad Carson" tagline have been running across the state calling Dr. Coburn an abortionist, despite Carson's pledge that voters would hear no more negative attacks from his campaign. Senator Don Nickles has said that Brad Carson is running a campaign of "character assassination" that is "a new low in Oklahoma politics" - and this confirms it.

"Does Brad Carson have any shame at all?" asked Coburn spokesman John Hart. "He lied to all of Oklahoma by saying repeatedly - both in the debate last night and in television ads - that he would end his negative personal attacks. Instead he has found a new low, smearing a family physician with a 100 percent pro-life record in Congress."

Dr. Tom Coburn has been endorsed by Oklahoma Right to Life and National Right to Life in the Senate race, because of his strong pro-life record. He has been a family doctor, helping women and children in Oklahoma, for almost 20 years. In the course of those many years, it was twice necessary to end a pregnancy. In those cases, the mother's heart and lungs had failed, and both mother and child were about to die. So, Dr. Coburn did what he had to do to save the life of the mother.

Dr. Coburn grieved for those lost children, and agonized over their deaths. "Those were heartbreaking, heartbreaking decisions," said Dr. Coburn. "But I think if you asked those women today, they would tell you that they are happy to be alive."

soonerpolitics.com has the ad linked on the right side of the home page. soonerpolitics.com proprietor Keith Gaddie had this to say when a Carson push-poll tried to get the same message out in August:

To equate the termination of an ectopic pregnancy with an elective abortion is at best ignorant, at worst politics at its most-mean-spirited and guttural.

So Dr. Tom Coburn did not perform abortions. He terminated two nonviable pregnancies of the sort that constitute a grave threat to the life of the expectant mother.

Here's a link to my entry at that time, and here's a link to soonerpolitics.com August content which includes the above quote.

Carson's radio ad cites the Republican National Committee for Life as if they opposed Tom Coburn or considered him not pro-life. In fact, their political action committee endorsed Coburn in the primary and describes Coburn as "unconditionally pro-life".

Brad Carson is a lying weasel. Even if you are pro-choice, do you really want a lying weasel representing you in the U.S. Senate?

(By the way, if anyone knows the name of the voice talent on the Carson ad, please drop me a line at blog at batesline.com -- replace the "at" with the @ sign. Someone who would prostitute his God-given vocal talents in the service of lies deserves to be named and shamed.)