September 19, 2012 11:43 PM UTC

Coors Unleashes Over-The-Top Shrill Attack Ad

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• by: Colorado Pols

Incumbent Democratic Rep. Ed Perlmutter’s campaign is pushing back hard on a new TV spot from Republican challenger Joe Coors. Eschewing Coors’ previously positive introductory themes, his latest ad very pointedly attacks votes from Perlmutter’s record as a state legislator.

Coors’ spot leads off with a frame from a new Democrat-aligned House Majority PAC ad, which hits Coors on his financial support for the 2010 “Personhood” abortion ban initiative, labeling that ad “false and negative” without explaining what’s false (answer: nothing we can identify). From there, Coors attacks votes in the state legislature by Perlmutter from 1996 and 2001, saying that Perlmutter “voted against the law that protects victims of child abuse from having to face their abusers in court” and “voted against Colorado’s law allowing the use of DNA evidence to convict sexual predators years later.” Both of which are, to be sure, portrayable in ugly ways. That said, these allegations are not new, having been first leveled against Perlmutter during the CD-7 Democratic primary election in 2006 by his defeated opponent Peggy Lamm.

Today, Perlmutter responded to Coors’ ad with a detailed rebuttal:

“Ed Perlmutter voted against the law that protects victims of child abuse from having to face their abusers in court.”  (SB-96-174)

Reality: In 1996 — 16 years ago — Perlmutter voted against SB 96-174, before closed circuit television had proven itself in the courtroom and because he felt the bill was unconstitutional because the Bill of Rights required anyone accused of a crime to face their accuser.  Now that closed circuit has proven itself in the court of law, Perlmutter believes it meets constitutional requirements…

“And Extreme Ed Perlmutter voted against Colorado’s law allowing the use of DNA evidence to convict sexual predators years later.” (HB 01-1334)

Reality: Perlmutter is a father of 3 daughters and has a proven record of being tough on crime and protecting victims of assault.  Ed voted against this bill in 2001, because he believes it was poorly written and unconstitutional because of its retroactive clause.  The co-sponsor of this bill, Rep. Cheri Jahn, now believes that the bill was unconstitutional and would oppose it as well.

Perlmutter’s rebuttal goes on to list his endorsements from police and women’s groups, and a long list of legislation pertaining to victim’s rights, sex offenders, and crimes against women.

Back in 2008, GOP Senate candidate Bob Schaffer was hit with devastating allegations that he had helped conceal serious labor abuses, including the practice of compulsory abortions on factory workers in the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. territory. The allegations were credible, well-documented, and the subject of a multi-day exposé by Michael Riley of the Denver paper.

However, these allegations were not what sank Schaffer. Contemporaneous polling showed the charge that Schaffer had helped cover for horrific labor abuses, and even forced abortions on workers, simply wasn’t believable in the context of what voters already knew (or thought they knew) about him. It was such a shrill allegation that it was very difficult to sell to the lay public.

Bottom line: unlike the perfectly believable idea that Joe Coors helped fund the 2010 “Personhood” abortion ban, it’s a big lift for the average voter to swallow the notion that a sitting Congressman with good name ID and a favorable reputation would vote to harm abuse victims. It certainly doesn’t comport with Rep. Perlmutter’s long list of endorsing police organizations and women’s rights groups. Combine that with the over-the-top imagery of a vulnerable young woman looking over her shoulder at a man walking behind her, and already-cynical viewers just aren’t going to accept these high-dudgeon allegations are true–and that’s before Perlmutter has a chance to rebut with his long list of countervailing endorsements and votes.

Of course, if attacks like this didn’t sometimes work, we’d never see them.