Vote Vets Slander to Hit Arizona's Jon Kyl Soon

Word around Phoenix-area newsrooms today centered on the next phase in a disgusting effort to defeat Republican Senators running for re-election.

It looks like the Left is about to slime Arizona Senator Jon Kyl with a vicious lie about his voting record concerning our troops. The same lie has already been spread about Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum and Virginia Senator George Allen earlier this election cycle. The ad is produced by an organization called VoteVets.org.

The text of the George Allen version of the VoteVets "Armor" Ad:

Pete Granato, an Army reservist and Iraq veteran: AK-47, the rifle of choice for terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan. This is a vest left over from the Vietnam War. It's the protection we were given when we deployed to Iraq.
(Granato shoots AK-47 at vest)
Granato: This is modern body armor, made for today's weapons.
(Granato shoots AK-47 at vest)
Granato: The difference is life or death.
(Mannequins underneath show that modern vest stops bullets but Vietnam-era vest does not.)
Granato: Senator George Allen voted against giving our troops this. Now it's time for us to vote against him.
On Screen: Source: Vote #116, 108th Congress, 1st Session.
Announcer: Vote Vets is responsible for the content of this advertisement.

Click here to watch the Santorum version of this ad.

The ad makes the slanderous charge that Santorum (and Allen and soon Kyl) voted against giving our troops effective body armor in Iraq and Afghanistan. Annenberg Political Fact Check or Factcheck.org, a nonpartisan, nonprofit, "consumer advocate" for voters at the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, has done a great job pointing out the falsehoods and lies in the ad.

The real question is if Arizona Democratic Senatorial nominee Jim Pederson will denounce, disavow and declare this ad out of bounds in Arizona.

I have real hope that Mr. Pedrson will do this.

But my cynical side thinks he will defend, deflect and declare his shock at Jon Kyl’s (inaccurately depicted) atrocious voting record on body armor for our troops.

Things are getting real ugly out there.

Click here to read a recent Arizona Daily Star article about this ad.