My must read of the day is "Conservative Group Counters Criticism of Ad Against Health Law," in the New York Times:
Americans for Prosperity, the conservative advocacy group being challenged by Democrats over the content of its ads attacking the health care law, is pushing back with a new commercial that will begin airing Tuesday in Michigan. […]
Lawyers for Representative Gary Peters, a Democrat who is seeking Michigan’s open Senate seat, wrote to television stations asking them to demand verification for the claims in the initial commercial, touching off a wider fight with Republicans over whether Democrats were trying to muzzle Ms. Boonstra.
In the new ad, Ms. Boonstra says the attacks on her credibility have been devastating and accuses Mr. Peters of trying to silence her. "All I want is to be listened to," she says in the commercial. "There are thousands of people out there who are hurting because of Obamacare."
Good for her. She should put out a new commercial. The actions of this congressman were, and are, ridiculous.
If Rep. Peters felt that Boonstra’s ad was inaccurate, that’s fine. He could say it and challenge the ad in a public debate. Sort of like Mitt Romney and his campaign did after a Priorities USA ad tied him to the death of a woman with cancer.
Boonstra’s original commercial was a testimonial. It was someone saying, very broadly, that because of the changes that occurred to her health plan as a result of Obamacare, her new coverage cost too much money. You can disagree with that, but it’s a personal opinion.
All Rep. Peters is doing is attempting to silence someone’s voice because he doesn’t like the message. This is cowardly. Challenge it out in the open, not by serving legal documents in an attempt to intimidate people from opposing your views.