Ensign protests TV ad on abortion

Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2000 | 11:12 a.m.

U.S. Senate candidate John Ensign is protesting a negative television advertisement that attributes to him a statement on abortion the anti-abortion Republican said he never made.

The statewide ad, paid for with $250,000 in soft money from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, starts out by noting that Democratic candidate Ed Bernstein is pro-choice, trusts women and wants government out of personal lives.

Ensign's image then flashes across the screen and at one point the announcer states: "Imagine, Ensign said even an 11-year-old rape victim and her family should have no choice."

Jim Jordan, political director of the Democratic committee in Washington, D.C., said the attribution is an accurate paraphrasing of a Sept. 14 interview Ensign gave to KPVM Channel 41 in Pahrump during a call-in show. But the Ensign campaign staff sharply disagreed.

Here is the transcript, provided by Ensign's campaign and verified by the Democratic version with slight modifications:

Caller: "Well I just, I know that we have had young girls in and around Las Vegas especially that have been attacked and raped at ages 11, 12, 13. This is not a time for them to be pregnant, so what do you do to help them?"

Ensign: "Actually I believe that helping them find a home for that baby is the best thing for them, psychologically. And that's why even with, you know, my own daughter I would do the same for my own daughter, and I would hope that that's exactly the choice that she would choose."

No television stations so far have agreed to pull the ads at the request of Craig Engle, general counsel for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. But Ensign campaign manager Pete Ernaut said Tuesday that the Democrats have fabricated a quote.

"This is cut and dry, and it's disgusting," Ernaut said. "By saying that John Ensign said this, any reasonable person would look at the transcript and see that it's not true. These are slimeball tactics."

Jordan, however, did not back down.

"Does he dispute that he opposes abortion for an 11-year-old?" he said of Ensign. "John Ensign is terribly out of the mainstream on the issue of abortion. He's obviously taking in water on this issue. His campaign is hemorrhaging, and he knows it."

The abortion ad, which began running Friday, is the second major negative spot financed by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in this race. The first one, paid for earlier this month with $250,000 in soft money from the committee, blasted former Rep. Ensign's voting record on Social Security, Medicare and health care reform.

Bernstein first made abortion an issue in a TV ad his campaign began running earlier this month. He is banking on the fact that two-thirds of Nevadans voted in 1990 in support of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade to legalize abortion.

The Bernstein ad caused Ensign to counter with a televised endorsement from pro-choice Nevada first lady Dema Guinn. That and a companion ad noted Ensign's support for increased breast cancer research and annual mammography screenings for Medicare recipients.

Ensign has charged that the ads from Bernstein and the Democrats have distorted his record. But Ensign's double-digit lead in the polls has decreased since his opponent went negative.

Political parties are normally allowed to use soft money on ads that promote party-building activities such as get-out-the-vote campaigns. But that distinction has been skirted in recent elections as parties have used such ads to blast opponent candidates.

Soft money contributions, which are not earmarked for a particular candidate but given to a political party, a political action committee or some other third-party organization, can be given in unlimited amounts. Soft money is used for advertising issues. The ads may not suggest that voters cast ballots for a candidate.

Hard money, which is money given to a specific candidate and is restricted to limited amounts, can be used for advertisements that encourage voters to "vote for" a candidate.

In the New York Senate race between Democratic first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and GOP Rep. Rick Lazio, both candidates have agreed to ban soft-money advertising from their campaigns.