Congressman Ernest Istook went on the air today, with an ad refuting the claims made by his opponent Bob Sullivan.

As the candidates continue to battle it out on TV, the Oklahoma Political News Service will keep you up to date.

The CD 5 assault on our local airwaves continues, as Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett and State Rep. Kevin Calvey launch new ads today.

Cornett’s ad hits on conservative themes, and asserts Cornett’s support for the marriage amendment, voluntary school prayer, and his opposition to flag burning.

Calvey’s ad has not been released, but is reported to be focused on immigration.

The Oklahoma Political News Service will keep you up to date on all developments and always will review the ads for mistruths and exaggerations.

Bob Sullivan goes up on the air with a new ad today, this time attacking Congressman Ernest Istook’s record on tort reform.

In keeping with the humorous theme, the new ad contains the same actor and mask combination that is in Sullivan’s previous ads. (Sullivan Press Release)

Istook’s campaign issued a press release denouncing Sullivan’s ad as “the latest in a string of lies and distortions.”

The Oklahoma Political News Service will investigate.

On the Republican side of the Lt. Governor’s race, Todd Heitt is on the air with
TV ads highlighting, his faith as well as his record as the Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives.

The commercial portrays Heitt as a “rancher, dairyman, [and] family man.”

The ad says that Heitt “passed the largest tax cut in state history” as well as “[leading] the charge to pass the most significant pro-life legislation in three decades.”

The Oklahoma Political News Service will investigate.

Features Wife Judy in a positive spot.

The air wars continue in the Republican gubernatorial primary, as Congressman Ernest Istook released his first television ad of the campaign.

Congressman Istook’s ad, in sharp contrast to the recent attack ads aired by Bob Sullivan, keeps it positive. Judy Istook, the Congressman’s wife narrates the bio piece, which highlights Ernest Istook the family man.

As always, the Oklahoma Political News Service will continue to follow the ads in the Governor’s Primary.

It is clear that the ads currently running for Kevin Calvey are not being paid for by his campaign. The question is who is paying for them?

The ad’s disclaimer reads “Paid for by Club for Growth State Action” leading one to assume that it is the national Club for Growth organization behind the commercials. However, Club for Growth’s David Keating said the state action club is part of an "umbrella group" for a handful of state affiliates of the Club for Growth. However, Oklahoma is "not listed among the few states that have affiliates." Keating explained that Club for Growth State Action was "lobbying-type organization" with its own board of directors, office and a different tax status than CFG (Casteel, Daily Oklahoman, 6/24).

The Oklahoma Political News Service will continue to investigate.

Askins first on TV

In what is sure to be a heated race for a job with the least amount of official responsibility, Democrat Jari Askins became the first candidate, in either primary to go on the air.

Her ad which is a bio spot, highlights Askin’s judicial background “tough on crime” and highlights her groundbreaking status as the “first women elected to lead House Democrats.”

The ad is void of any controversial claims, but the mud is sure to fly as this race heats up.

Oklahoma Political News Service will continue to keep an eye on this race

 

If Oklahoma politics had a black market in weapons of mass destruction, says one congressional campaign manager who asked we not use his name, Ben Harris would be high up on the FBI’s most wanted list. In 2002, when Steve Largent ran for Governor, then-Independent Gary Williamson stopped the Republican dead in his tracks with an ad the public found so vile, most viewers switched their channels.

The 30-second television spot showed the World Trade Center towers shortly before their collapse and reminded viewers that Congressman Steve Largent was hunting in Idaho while Congress was voting on resolutions addressing the terrorist attacks. At the time, Largent had been unreachable due to communications problems and was unaware of either the attacks or the votes. Visibly shaken upon returning to peppering by the media, Largent swore at repeated questioning on the subject. All of the above made it into the Ben Harris ad. Gary Williamson siphoned off enough of the vote that 43% was sufficient to put Brad Henry in the governor’s mansion.

Four years later, Bob Sullivan has hired Ben “the hit man” Harris for his campaign’s ads. Not to tell the truth. Not even to tell the full story. His first attack ad on uber-conservative Congresman Ernest Istook used masks, doctored photographs, a paid actor, sounds of pigs squealing, even a bobble-head doll of the Congressman. All it lacked was a shred of truth.

But that has never been Ben Harris’ style. Unfortunately, for Oklahoma voters, it may only be the beginning, as it clearly wasn’t the knock-out blow the 9-11 ad was for Largent.

Harris has a checkered past. He quit a state job in Florida after ethical concerns were raised. An investigation centered on allegations Ben Harris gave contracts to vendors with whom he had a personal relationship.

Jerry Regier, then head of Florida's child-protection agency, hired Harris. Regier in July 2004 suspended Harris and a co-worker, Glenn Palmiere, for their actions. Harris and Palmiere resigned a couple weeks later and Regier, who served from 2000 to 2002 as temporary head of the Oklahoma Health Department, resigned later that summer. The three have said they reimbursed vendors for everything they received.

The St. Petersburg, Fla., Times reported a state report showed Harris received a karaoke machine from an individual involved with a company that received 298 contracts totaling more than $4 million from the state agency, accepted a "spa massage" that a computer company paid for, and circumvented state purchasing requirements in hiring a consultant.

Harris and Palmiere in June 2004 traveled to Sydney, Australia, at the expense of a software company that won a $500,000 contract with the Florida agency the previous year, the newspaper reported.

Oklahoma Political News Service has already brought you in-depth coverage of the Club for Growth advertising on behalf of State Representative Kevin Calvey and exposed its misstatements and half-truths. We also covered the Mick Cornett radio ad days before it was attacked by other candidates and covered by traditional media sources. They are now regularly following our lead on political new stories.

Continuing in this important series, we turn our attention to the third ad run by State Corporation Commissioner Denise Bode, who was criticized by her opponents for arguably stretching the truth in her 2002 primary campaign for Attorney General against Tim Green, and Drew Edmondson in the general.

Our analysis of the ad does uncover one untruth and one exaggeration:.

UNTRUTH…

• ANNCR: Denise Bode wrote parts of the historic Reagan tax cut plan…

According to a 1985 *Time Magazine article, Denise Bode was the lead Democratic staffer in the U.S. Senate working to thwart part of the Reagan tax cuts. Time credits Bode with Senate passage of the 1983 gas tax hike, which more than doubled the federal gas tax.

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*PULLING STRINGS ON CAPITOL HILL, THESE LOBBYISTS ARE TRYING TO UNRAVEL REAGAN'S TAX REFORM

"Bode was still working in the Senate three years ago when she showed her mettle. Exhausted and eight months pregnant, she helped shepherd the 1982 gas tax bill through the Senate."
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EXAGGERATION…

• ANNCR: [Denise Bode] …led the fight to kill Clinton’s BTU tax…

The defeat of the Clinton tax increase, according to a case study published by American University, is credited to the work of the National Association of Manufacturers and the Aluminum Manufacturers. Mrs. Bode’s role - with Senator Boren’s support - on the Senate floor is unclear. If she truly played a role, it is an exaggeration to claim she lead the fight.

AD WARS

Republican candidate for Governor Bob Sullivan recently when on the air
with his first official campaign commercial. The ad, which is a positive bio spot, acknowledges Sullivan's stature as an unknown but comments that "[Sullivan] will work harder than anyone to win your vote" With election day less that 6 weeks away, and Sullivan polling around 10%, Sullivan may need more than effort to win the
nomination.

Oklahoma Political News Service Update:

As the old saying goes, “Just because candidates call themselves fiscal conservatives or friends of taxpayers, doesn’t mean that they can be counted on to advance those issues.” In every campaign season, it seems as though accomplishments become inflated, and facts become a mere inconvenience.

Last week the Oklahoma Political News Service brought you a transcript of a TV advertisement currently being aired for State Representative Kevin Calvey - candidate for 5th District Congress - from DC-based fundraising giant Club for Growth. This week, we will continue our “Ad Watch” series and investigate any dubious claims made in the ad.

• "Calvey led the fight against corporate welfare bailouts and stood nearly alone against wasteful pork spending."

More accurately, Calvey led the fight in favor of corporate welfare bailouts, before the bailouts went bad and he had to sound the retreat. While his website claims to have fought the entire $27 million, the facts tell a different story.

In reality, Calvey voted for $18 million in corporate welfare funding for the now-defunct Great Plains Airlines, that quixotic little airline that was big on dreams but short on fuel capacity. A fact conveniently absent from the advertisements and his own campaign website touting him as a fiscal conservative leader.

• "Kevin Calvey: a true conservative leader. Now that’s something special."

The Club for Growth is widely known as one of the preeminent political fundraising organizations, but in terms of their pick of a “true conservative leader” in this race, our analysis shows they missed the mark.