Barrett Campaign Admits To Lying in TV Ad??

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Wauwatosa – Keith Gilkes, campaign manager for Scott Walker, released the following statement on the news that Tom Barrett’s campaign admitted to lying in their attack ad.  Yesterday, legal counsel for the Walker campaign asked 18 stations across Wisconsin to take down Barrett’s attack ad.   ??

“The Barrett campaign has admitted that they are yet again lying to the people of Wisconsin,” said Gilkes.  “It’s complete hypocrisy for Tom Barrett to air a desperate ad saying he’s a ‘straight shooter,’ but the reality is his entire attack ad is based on a big fat lie.  We will continue to call for TV stations across the state to pull this ad.”  ??When asked directly whether he could back up his claims, Barrett’s campaign admitted that the ad was aired by the Republican Governors Association, and not by Scott Walker.

Yesterday the AP reported that: “Barrett spokesman Phil Walzak defended the ad, saying there's "no effective difference" between Walker and Republican groups backing him and that the Milwaukee County executive hasn't repudiated or condemned the ad's content.  "This ad is clearly an extension of the Walker campaign," Walzak said.”

Barrett’s TV ad begins by saying “Scott Walker’s blaming Tom Barrett for unemployment” and screen shots an ad that is not sanctioned by Scott Walker’s campaign, but is, instead, one aired by the Republican Governors Association.

Full Article Below: ??

Scott Walker wants TV stations to take down Tom Barrett ad

SCOTT BAUER | Associated Press | Posted: Wednesday, August 18, 2010 6:11 pm

Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott Walker asked television stations across Wisconsin running an attack ad by his Democratic opponent to take it off the air Wednesday.

An attorney for Walker sent an e-mail to 18 television stations saying the ad being run by Democrat Tom Barrett falsely attributes a negative ad to Walker.

The Barrett ad shows footage from and refers to a spot previously run by the Republican Governors Association attacking Barrett. That ad, which refers to Barrett as like Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle "only worse," blames the Milwaukee mayor for raising taxes, increasing spending and losing jobs.

The Barrett ad, which began airing last week, begins by showing images from the RGA ad but without the attribution to the group that ran in the original spot. Words on the screen during the Barrett ad say "Scott Walker Negative Television Ad" and the narrator says "Scott Walker's blaming Tom Barrett for unemployment? Ridiculous."

Barrett spokesman Phil Walzak defended the ad, saying there's "no effective difference" between Walker and Republican groups backing him and that the Milwaukee County executive hasn't repudiated or condemned the ad's content.

"This ad is clearly an extension of the Walker campaign," Walzak said.

Walzak also sent a fundraising e-mail to Barrett supporters urging them to watch the new ad in question and share it with friends through social networking websites Facebook and Twitter. In his e-mail, Walzak says "Scott Walker and his political operative friends in DC have spent nearly $1 million on false, negative attack ads."

Walzak said Barrett's ad was an attempt to set the record straight.

But Walker's attorney Glenn M. Willard called the Barrett ad defamatory. Willard told stations in La Crosse, Madison, Green Bay and Wausau they had a duty to take it off the air.

"The Barrett campaign not only misattributed an advertisement to the Walker campaign, but it also built an entire advertisement of its own around it in order to call Walker a liar," Willard said in the letter.

Walker spokeswoman Jill Bader said the letter was sent Wednesday afternoon to stations and they did not immediately hear back from any of them. Walzak said the Barrett campaign had not been told by any stations that the ad would be pulled.

Tom Bier, station manager for WISC-TV in Madison, said Walker's claims would be investigated Thursday. Bier said claims of false advertisements are becoming more frequent during campaigns but he can't recall his station ever taking down a political ad during his 10 years as manager.