The Democratic Party of Oregon issues this release yesterday:

The Saxton Ad Campaign, Brought to You by Creators of Willie Horton and the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth

(Eugene, OR) – Today Jim Edmunson, the Chair of the Democratic Party of Oregon, called on voters to look behind the text on their television screens and in their mailboxes and pay attention to who's really behind the Saxton ads.

"Saxton is running the most negative and dishonest campaign in Oregon's history," Edmunson said. "He’s taken the Bush model of innuendo and distortion and imported it to Oregon. How can he continue to tout that his campaign is about making Oregon great when he’s importing the worst examples of GOP attack politics this country has seen in the past two decades?"

On Sunday, the Salem Statesman-Journal candidate questionnaire revealed that the mastermind behind Saxton's discredited immigration and education ads is Larry McCarthy, the infamous consultant responsible for the Willie Horton ad from the 1988 Bush presidential campaign. McCarthy works for Mentzer Media Services, the same advertising firm that also produced the television ads for Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. McCarthy bragged of the photo he used in the Horton ad, saying it was “every suburban mother's greatest fear.”

In 1994, McCarthy told ABC News the reason negative ads work is "people know less, and they learn more and more of their information from commercials," adding "they’re much more inclined to believe the worst" about candidates. [ABC News, 10/23/94]

Mentzer Media also coordinated the advertising for The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, the group that smeared decorated Vietnam veteran, Sen. John Kerry, as a traitor and a liar.

It is no surprise that the Medford Mail Tribune wrote, "Watch and listen to more than a dozen advertisements on Saxton's website and it won't be long before you'll want to go somewhere to wash off." [Medford Mail Tribune, 10/6/06]

Saxton's direct mail comes from the national GOP powerhouse FLS Connect/DCI Group – a firm co-founded by the architect of the Bush smear campaign against John McCain in the 2000 South Carolina primary.

The Saxton campaign's consistent use of Karl Rovian tactics is getting more and more attention. The Oregonian's columnist, David Sarasohn, said Saxton is running, "…what may be the most dishonest media campaign in Oregon memory…from the spring primary race through his current media buy, Ron Saxton has spent huge amounts on TV spots that turn out not to be exactly true, hoping nobody will look at the white line." [The Oregonian, 10/13/06]

A recent article in the Oregonian notes that Saxton ran an ad blaming Governor Kulongoski for the illegal immigration problem in the state, despite knowing at the time that a farm he owned may have hired and housed illegal immigrant migrant workers. And another Oregonian ad watch headline on Saxton's education attack ad reads, "Saxton ad toys with facts, uses out-of-context quote" [The Oregonian, 10/11/06]

"Ron Saxton needs to send the Bush Hate Ad machine back east," added Edmunson. "This sort of slime has no place in Oregon politics."

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