The DPVA wades in to the Tim Hugo controversy:
Attorneys for the Democratic Party of Virginia are asking cable stations to stop running a controversial TV campaign ad by a Republican state legislator from Fairfax County that uses unidentified, unverified quotes from a blog.The letter calls Del. Timothy D. Hugo's ad against candidate Rex Simmons "unethical, deceptive and misleading" and says it violates the American Association of Political Consultants Code of Ethics.
[...]
The ad cites Raising Kaine as the source of the quotes about Simmons. Lowell Feld, one of the founders of the blog Raising Kaine, also is calling on television stations to pull Hugo's ad, saying it misleads voters into thinking that Raising Kaine opposes Simmons.
I'm glad to see this, although I'm not holding my breath about the ad being pulled. I mean, obviously Tim Hugo doesn't care what anyone thinks, and the cable stations so far have shown that they care more about money than ethics in this case. At the minimum, Tim Hugo should re-cut the ad(s) to properly cite the source and not continue to mislead people about this blog. Just in case of any doubt, however, here's the position of Raising Kaine on the Simmons-Hugo race:
P.S. To contribute to Rex Simmons (picture above with his family), please click here. Thanks!
Law Offices of Jay B. Myerson
11860 Sunrise Valley Drive, Suite 100
Reston, Virginia 20191September 27, 2007
Ms. Dianne Earley
General Manager
Cox Northern Virginia
3075 Centreville Road
Suite 110
Herndon, Virginia 20171Re: Hugo Advertisement
Dear Ms. Earley:
We are writing on behalf of our client, the Democratic Party of Virginia. Rex Simmons is the Democratic Party's candidate running for election from the 40th House of Delegates District of Virginia. It has come to the attention of the Democratic Party that your station has begun to broadcast an advertisement sponsored by the Friends of Tim Hugo Committee ("Hugo"), and that the advertisement contains information that is deceptive and misleading.
The Hugo advertisement is unethical, deceptive and misleading, citing the website Raising Kaine for statements about House Democratic candidate Rex Simmons. The problem is that the editors of Raising Kaine did not write those comments; rather the comments referenced by the Hugo campaign are from users of the blog.
The American Association of Political Consultants Code of Ethics requires ads to "document accurately and fully any criticism of an opponent or his or her record." Please see the enclosed downloaded Code of Ethics of the American Association of Political Consultants.
Hugo's advertisement cites postings on a blog that anyone could have made.
The Hugo ad has not provided accurate and full documentation to indicate that the postings were anonymous comments. Please see enclosed excerpt.
Your station is not obligated to accept this advertisement for broadcast nor is it required to account in any way for its decision to reject such an advertisement. Columbia Broadcasting System v. Democratic National Committee, 412 U.S. 94 (1973); You Can't Afford Dodd Committee, 81 FCC2d 579 (1980). The Friends of Tim Hugo Committee is not a federal candidate or candidate committee. Repeated efforts by organizations that are not federal candidate committees to obtain a private right of access have been consistently rejected by the FCC. See e.g., National Conservative Political Action Committee, 89 FCC2d 626 (1982).
Although a broadcast station should provide contrasting views on issues of public importance, it should not broadcast an inflammatory advertisement that contains what is nothing more than a blatant lie. As noted, this advertisement is not a political spot that is being run by a legally qualified federal candidate, and therefore, you have no legal obligation to air it. On the contrary, you have an obligation to exercise your independent editorial judgment as an FCC licensee as to whether you should run an advertisement that contains a naked falsehood.
We appeal to your best editorial judgment and sense of decency and fairness and urge you not to carry this blatantly misleading commercial.
Sincerely yours,
Jay B. Myerson
JBM:fh
enclosure