At the request of former Senator Bob Dole, Democrats are scrapping plans to broadcast a new commercial that touted Republicans like Mr. Dole speaking in support of overhauling the health-care system.
Mr. Dole lodged a complaint with the White House Saturday night, saying that the new commercial, set to run on national and Washington broadcast stations on Monday but available online on Saturday, was deceptive.
“He believes it is deceptive, it was not authorized, and he asked that it be pulled,” Michael Marshall, a spokesman for Mr. Dole, said Sunday morning. “He was told late last night by the White House that it would not run.”
On Sunday morning, the Democratic National Committee, which produced the advertisement, confirmed that it would not be broadcast.“We have great respect for Senator Dole and his commitment to reform,” a spokesman said. “As soon as Senator Dole’s concerns were communicated to us, we immediately agreed to pull the ad.”
Mr. Dole’s complaint and the quick compliance by the Democrats reflect the intense and delicate politics swirling around the health-care debate as the Senate Finance Committee prepares to vote on its version of the overhaul early this week.
Mr. Dole said last week that top Republicans in Congress, including Senator Mitch McConnell, the minority leader, had asked him not to endorse an overhaul but he ignored that request. Then the commercial pushed him too far.
Dole who was a big booster of Tom Daschle clearly has more clout over this whitehouse thaen one might imagine. I guess the Democrats figured starting the week on a bad foot was the wrong call so they killed the ad last night.
Amazing story. I'm glad Dole has taken a step back with his hyper-biparisanship.
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