Barber called upon to disown latest attack ad on Kelly Not Really

June 5, 2012

By ADI News Services Perhaps the Jesse Kelly campaign staffer who wrote this should apply his name to the piece?

The latest negative ad It's not negative when it's true offering by the Rob Barber campaign has drawn criticism from all corners. The new TV ad from the House Majority Pac Wait, you just wrote that the ad is from the Barber campaign uses a snippet from a speech Jesse Kelly made long before Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot by a deranged Jared Loughner We know, the ad says it was from 2 years ago. Did you forget or are you trying to fool people?. TucsonCitizen.com editor, Mark Evans wrote, “Barber is going to have to disown what a BS misleading POS ad this is.” This would be a good place for a link to where Mr. Evans made this statement, so where is it?

Giffords whose recovery and spirit are considered nothing short of courageous by everyone, including Kelly himself, is being used as a source of support for Barber in the ad. Hey, here's an idea, how about an ad where Jesse Kelly praises Giffords? Seems like a pragmatic thing to do, if Kelly could muster up the sincerity to do it.

The creators use a small portion of a speech Kelly delivered to supporters at a 2010 picnic in Continental Ranch. Candidate for Pima County Board of Supervisors James Kelley said of the ad, “The ad itself identifies it as a 2010 statement and states in a voice-over the statement is from 2 years ago . But people are going to hear the statement not see 2010.” The ad does show 2010 in the upper left hand corner, but one ad viewer said, “there is no clue why that number is on the screen.” <-- I guess this person saw the year. The clue is clear. It's so clear it isn't even a clue. Many people know the shooting occured in January of 2011. 2011 is a different year than 2010.

In the ad, Kelly is criticizing Giffords shortly after he lost to her Just in case you aren't following, that would still be the year 2010 by a narrow margin. Bitter, party of one. Something near the kitchen? “She stands there with that smile and pretends to be some kind of hometown hero.” At the time of the speech, many Arizonans were disappointed with her lack of support for a secure border A lie , and failure to connect with her constituents A bitter lie .

“Before she was shot, Jesse was correct to challenge her leadership, specifically concerning ObamaCare which all TeaParty members opposed. She and her leadership misled us when they had her say, “I have to sign this bill because it will cut the deficit by $100 billion”. Even a novice who had not read the whole bill would know that adding 150 new agencies could NEVER reduce the deficit by one penny,” said Carolyn Cox Chairwoman of the Pima GOP. You mean after he lost the election? That's not what people call 'correct,' it's called being a sore loser.

“We all know no one read that bill before it was signed. In comparison, Medicare was debated for seven (7) years before it was signed. Shame on President Obama, House Speaker Pelosi, and every congressman and senator in the March 2010 Congress,” Cox concluded. It's hard to tell if Ms. Cox is mis-informed, mis-quoted, or not being truthful. A bill cannot be debated for 7 years. That is an impossibility.

As a result of her narrow win, Giffords did increase her visibility in the area. She was shot while conducting voter reach WTF?! out at a Safeway. The congresswoman called the event, "Congress On Your Corner.” She called her constituent work, "Congress On Your Corner." She did several of them. Before and after the 2010 election. Remember when a gun dropped from someone at a Safeway in Cochise County? That was a person waiting in line at a "Congress On Your Corner" event.

According to the Washington Post, “a look at a longer video of the August 2010 event, provided by House Majority PAC, makes clear that Kelly was arguing that Giffords had presented herself as a “hero” for backing Obama agenda items such as the national health care overhaul. You know what else the WP piece declared? "The narration and a chyron on the TV ad, from House Majority PAC, make clear that Kelly made the remark two years ago, before the January 2011 Tucson shooting that took the lives of six and left 13 wounded, including Giffords and Ron Barber, the former Giffords staffer who is now running to succeed her in Congress." Odd, why would someone supposedly concerned about context leave this out of their 'new' piece?

The full -ish version of Kelly’s 2010 remarks:

“Gabrielle Giffords is a big-spending, San Francisco liberal. That’s what Gabrielle Giffords is. And she has the gall to talk about us as extreme. Extreme! Did any of you vote for the government takeover of health care? I didn’t think so! Did any of you decide that the government should run the energy sector? Double the debts, double the deficits, double the unemployment? No! Giffords did that. And now she stands there with that smile and pretends to be some kind of hometown hero. She’s a hero of nothing. She’s brought bankruptcy to this nation. And we are going to bring unemployment to her.”

Polls show Barber and Kelly in a dead heat in the CD8 Special Election.