Congressional District 9 candidate Phyllis Busansky is attempting a preemptive strike against what she believes will be a nasty ad campaign coming from her opponent, Gus Bilirakis, who has hired the same firm that did the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ads in 2004.
She's also getting in a little fear-driven fundraising.
On Friday, Busansky's Democratic campaign sent out an e-mail warning supporters about Bilirakis' hiring of the Stevens Reed consulting firm and asking for help in filling campaign coffers so she can fight back against an expected attack from her Republican challenger:
STOP THE LIES – ENABLE PHYLLIS TO FIGHT BACK
Gus Bilirakis, a.k.a.PHANTOM MAN, has decided to use a ruthless, deceitful media firm to produce and run his vicious negative campaign against Phyllis Busansky.
The Stevens Reed Curcio & Potholm Firm created the Swift Boat Veterans ad campaign to distort John Kerry’s heroic record of service.
The firm made national news recently when U.S. News & World Report revealed that a television ad produced for Ohio Sen. Mike DeWine included doctored images of the World Trade Center towers on 9/11.
Can you [imagine] knowingly hiring a firm that is known to use 9-11 as a political instrument and distort the truth by doctoring photos? KNOWINGLY!
The appeal concludes that supporters should send in their bucks now rather than "sit back and complain after the election about Gus’s campaign of distortion and lies."
This article appears in Sep 13-19, 2006.