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Campaign Finance

Misleading ad attacks Obama on Libya

Rachael Marcus Oct 2, 2012

Conservative super PAC American Crossroads released “World,” a misleading attack on President Barack Obama’s actions on the day U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens was killed in Libya.

The video opens with the sound of sirens and crackling fires as shots of protests and burning buildings are shown. A newscaster reads a statement from the White House confirming that the Obama administration considers the killing of the ambassador to Libya and three other Americans to be a terrorist attack.

On that day, the narrator says, Obama “campaigned in Las Vegas.” 

Obama was not in Las Vegas campaigning on Sept. 11, the day of the attack. Both he and Romney refrained from campaigning that day out of respect for the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Obama went to Las Vegas the next day, the official White House schedule shows, and spoke of the attack.

The ad also suggests the president “snubbed key allies” at the UN General Assembly meeting last week and instead appeared on the daytime talk show The View. Though Obama spoke at the UN meeting last week, he did not schedule bilateral meetings, leaving that instead to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, according to news reports.

The Obama administration has been criticized for its initial statements on whether it considered the Libyan consulate attack to be an act of terrorism.

In other outside spending news:

  • The American Hospital Association PAC reported spending $268,000 in support of Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, who supports Obama’s Affordable Care Act. The AHA PAC spent almost $1 million over the weekend supporting Republican candidates who opposed Obama’s health care reform, the Daily Disclosure reported Monday.
     
  • Focus on the Family Action, a nonprofit that also goes by the name CitizenLink, reported spending $1.2 million on ads supporting Romney and several Republican U.S. Senate candidates.
     
  • Four Years” from conservative nonprofit American Future Fund opposes Obama, as does “Confianza,” a Spanish-language ad criticizing Obama for the botched Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives operation Fast and Furious, which resulted in guns ending up in the hands of drug cartels.
     
  • Ending Spending Action Fund, the conservative nonprofit established by TD Ameritrade founder J. Joe Ricketts, reported spending $863,000 on ads opposing Obama and supporting Romney.
     
  • Majority PAC, a super PAC supporting Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate, entered the New Jersey race Monday with a $150,000 buy supporting Sen. Bob Mendendez. This appears to be the first reported independent expenditure in the race.
     
  • Wind” from the League of Conservation Voters Victory Fund, a super PAC, features an unemployed former wind farm worker. The ad opposes Romney and cost $500,000.
     
  • The NEA Fund for Children and Public Education, a political action committee of the National Education Association, reported spending $552,000 supporting Rep. Judy Biggert, R-Ill., and opposing Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa.

Who paid for that political ad? You might be surprised by the answer. Email us and we will try to find out. Describe the advertisement — was it mean or nice? Will it affect your vote? When and where did it run and what were the names of the candidates? And PLEASE tell us what the disclaimer at the end says, and we will check it out.

 

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