Stratton rips ‘frivolous’ ad promoting her campaign, wants it taken off the air
When Democrat Supreme Court candidates Black and Burnside were asked to request the removal of PAC attack ads benefitting them, they refused. Even in the face of the ads' being condemned by the State Bar Association, and even as three appeals-court judges in Lima unanimously found that there is probable cause that one of Burnside's campaign ads violated the Ohio Code of Judicial Conduct, both Black and Burnside continue to refuse to disassociate themselves from the condemned ads.
What a contrast when the situation is reversed! Two separate television ads have been televised in Columbus, paid for by a pro-Stratton/O'Connor political action committee. But unlike Burnside and Black, the candidates the ads are intended to benefit say they want no part of it.
The first ad began running over a week ago. In an immediate joint statement, the Republican candidates said "We are outraged by the advertisement's message and unequivocally denounce it.''
A second ad has begun airing, and Ohio Supreme Court Justice Evelyn Stratton again called yesterday for an independent organization to pull an advertisement supporting her candidacy off the air.
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"I have asked them to remove [the ads] immediately, but I have no power legally to do anything. I don’t want these ads running on my behalf. They are insulting, and I want them off the air. I ask people not to hold against me something someone else is doing," she said.
In a grand display of hypocracy, Betty Sutton, Burnside's campaign manager, called the pro-Stratton ads a "sleazy tactic''. She sees conspiracy in the confluence of the ads with the GOP candidates. Even worse, Burnside personally scolded Justice Stratton for negative campaigning in their recent debate.
But of course, the Burnside campaign has nothing to say about their problems with probable Judicial Code violations.
Stratton has been forced to run her own ad in these markets, in which she states "we are simply asking people not to believe the lies told by the negative campaigns," she said. In the ad, her campaign points out that all the major newspapers in the state have endorsed [Stratton]. "They can’t all be wrong," she said. "I am just hoping that the newspaper endorsements will bring some objectivity to this race," she said, and will end "the sleaze and lies."
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