Another of McCain's Lies

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Do you want to elect someone who not only resorts to such dishonest tactics, but also does so by attacking legislation meant to protect children from sexual predators? Planned Parenthood has come out with an ad addressing McCain's lies on this matter. First though, the blatantly false ad from McCain:


and here's Planned Parenthood's response:

1110 Vermont Ave, NW Suite 300 Washington, DC 20005 · PHONE: 202.973.4800 · www.plannedparenthoodaction.org
McCain-Palin 2008
P.O. Box 16118
Arlington, VA 22215
FAX: 703-752-2515
Delivered via Fax, email, and postal mail
Sept. 11, 2008

Dear Steve Schmidt/McCain-Palin campaign,
I am writing to ask that the McCain campaign immediately take down your false and misleading ad attacking Senator Obama for his support of a bill that would have helped protect young children from sexual predators.
This ad is a misleading attack on Senator Obama AND on the substance of the bill itself. As one of many organizations the supported the bill, we are outraged that the McCain campaign would seek to play political games with children’s health and safety. We are also disappointed that Senator McCain has reneged on his own promise to refrain from such tactics. In 2003, Planned Parenthood worked with Illinois state legislators to introduce the bill highlighted in Senator McCain’s negative ad. The bill, SB 99, would have taught kindergartners how to recognize inappropriate touching and how to defend against sexual predators. In addition, the bill “was supported by a coalition of education and public health organizations, including the
Illinois Parent Teacher Association, the Illinois State Medical Society, the Illinois Public Health Association and the Illinois Education Association.” (New York Times, 9/11/08) Bill SB 99 of the 2003 Illinois Legislative session explicitly states, “Course material and instruction shall teach pupils to not make unwanted physical and verbal sexual advances and how to say no to unwanted sexual advances and shall include information about verbal, physical, and visual sexual harassment, including without limitation nonconsensual sexual advances, nonconsensual physical sexual contact, and rape by an acquaintance.” Several analyses and fact checks of the McCain campaign’s attack ad have criticized the ad, and found that it is a “factual failure” and “seriously distort(s) the record.” The New York Times: McCain’s ad “distorts” Obama’s record: The New York Times reports that McCain’s ad “severely distorts” Obama’s record and is “recycling old and discredited arguments.” The Times goes on to report that “The advertisement, then, also misrepresents what
the bill meant by “comprehensive.” The instruction the bill required was comprehensive in that it called for a curriculum that went from kindergarten and through high school, not in the sense that kindergarteners would have been fully exposed to the entire gamut of sex-related issues.” [The New York Times, 9/11/08]
The Washington Post: The McCain ad “fails test”: The Washington Post examined the “education” ad created by McCain and said that political ads “should not misrepresent the record of the other side and should clearly distinguish quotes from non-partisan news sources from standard political rhetoric. The McCain ‘education’ ad fails this test.” [The Washington Post, 9/11/08] Factcheck.org: McCain ad is a “Factual Failure”: Factcheck.org writes, “A McCain-Palin campaign ad claims Obama's ‘one accomplishment’ in the area of education was ‘legislation to teach “comprehensive sex education” to kindergarteners.’ But the claim is simply false, and it dates back to Alan Keyes' failed race against Obama for an open Senate seat in 2004. Obama, contrary to the ad's insinuation, does not support explicit sex education for kindergarteners. And the bill, which would have allowed only ‘age appropriate’ material and a no-questions-asked optout policy for parents, was not his accomplishment to claim in any case, since he was not even a cosponsor – and the bill never left the state Senate.” [Factcheck.org; 9/10/08] Congressional Quartely: McCain makes “dubious” claims about Obama’s character. CQ writes, “McCain appears to be banking on the assumption that he has enough credibility with voters that he can maintain their faith in his character even if he makes dubious claims about Obama's…. [T]he underlying suggestion of ‘Education’ -- that Obama favors teaching 5-yearolds the kind of sex ed taught to high school students -- is a significant stretch.” [CQ, 9/11/08] We all want to protect our children, and we should be able to agree not to politicize issues that are critical to the safety and well-being of our children. That is why Senator Obama supported this bill. With that in mind, I respectfully ask that the McCain campaign stop airing this misleading attack ad on Senator Obama’s education record, and on the bill itself.

Sincerely,
Cecile Richards
President
Planned Parenthood Action Fund

- letter from Planned Parenthood chief Cecile Richards - text taken from Ben Smith's Blog: Planned Parenthood defends Obama, attacks McCain