Hunter ad hits Fallin on Hastert visit

October 26, 2006 Thursday
By RON JENKINS, Associated Press Writer

A new television ad that began running Wednesday by Democrat David Hunter attempts to tie Republican congressional opponent Mary Fallin to the "moral crisis" in Washington because she is accepting fundraising help from House Speaker Dennis Hastert. ...

Hunter, the underdog in the 5th Congressional District race to replace Istook, began airing a 30-second TV spot in which he says: "Washington is broken and Mary Fallin's part of the problem. She's raising money with the politician who protected a sexual predator.

"That's wrong. This is not a political crisis, it's a moral crisis, and we deserve better."

The commercial spotlights headlines cobbled from newspaper accounts of Hastert's response to the congressional page scandal and his planned fundraising event in Oklahoma City on Monday on behalf of Fallin.

"It's time to give up on the politicians, fix the mess that they made of jobs and health care and get back to living our values, not just talking about them," Hunter says to end the ad.

Hunter had previously criticized Fallin for accepting money from GOP congressional political action committees and called on the three-term lieutenant governor to cancel the fundraiser with Hastert.

At least two incumbent Republican congressmen, Ron Lewis of Kentucky and Don Sherwood of Pennsylvania, canceled Hastert appearances after the page scandal broke. Hastert said he had no knowledge of sexually suggestive text messages that were reported to have been sent by disgraced Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., to congressional pages.

An aide said Fallin was in northeast Oklahoma on Wednesday campaigning for legislative candidates and could not be reached for comment. ...