Bredesen rips group’s attack ad as ‘full of flat-out lies’
NASHVILLE — Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Phil Bredesen is condemning what he charges are “flat-out lies” made in an attack ad paid for by the political arm of the conservative Koch network.
In his own 30-second spot, slated to start running on TV and in digital ads over the Labor Day weekend, the former Tennessee governor rebuts the Americans for Prosperity ad while also directing fire at his Republican Senate campaign rival, U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn.
Americans for Prosperity is spending $2 million to run its ad, released Wednesday. It slams the former two-term governor for multimillion-dollar renovations he made to the governor’s mansion, including $4 million in state funds for an underground meeting hall. It charges that as governor, Bredesen “lived the life. We paid the bill.”
It also says Bredesen “supported” various tax and fee increases, singling out state gas and sales taxes. Earlier Thursday, PolitiFact, a nationally recognized nonpartisan fact-checking site, rated the AFP gas and sales tax claims as “false.”
“Have you seen this ad?” Bredesen said in his own spot as he looks into a camera. “It’s full of flat-out lies. First, Andrea and I never even lived in the Governor’s Residence. We stayed in our own home while the residence was restored for future governors.”
He goes on to say “second, I never raised either the gas tax or the sales tax. Congresswoman Blackburn, you’ve been in Washington 16 years now and frankly this ad shows it. We need some fresh air up there. And I’m applying for the job.”
As governor, Bredesen, a self-made multimillionaire who served as governor from 2003-2011, stayed in his own home located in an upscale Nashville neighborhood.
During Bredesen’s second term, he dealt with the impact of the nation’s worst economic downturn since the Great Depression on Tennessee’s finances.
The state’s gas and sales tax rates were not raised. Early on in his tenure, he did talk about seeking a gas tax increase but he never did so. The state did enact a number of tax and fee increases.
In its ad, AFP said “when times are tough, we budget for our families. But when our state’s budget was in crisis, Phil Bredesen supported higher taxes on us. Higher gas taxes, sales taxes and more.”
PolitiFact, however, noted that “both the gas and state sales tax remained the same throughout [Bredesen’s] time as governor. Food taxes went down and cigarette taxes went up. While he piecemealed additional revenues here and there, he opposed raising the broad-base sales tax.”
PolitiFact noted that the AFP “ad uses the word ‘support’ in the broadest fashion possibly to mislead Tennesseans about their experiences under Bredesen. We rate this claim False.”
Bredesen communication director Laura Zapata said in a statement that “it may not be the Washington way, but the truth still matters in Tennessee. Now that Congresswoman Blackburn’s dishonest backers have been unmasked, voters will be reminded why the Swamp reeks.”
PolitiFact noted that among Bredesen’s other recommendations was one to address plummeting state revenues during the Great Recession. It was a proposal to eliminate a separate single-item tax on big-ticket items such as jewelry and business equipment. But state lawmakers “rejected it,” the organization said.
Asked about the Bredesen and AFP ads, Blackburn spokesperson Abbi Sigler referred a reporter to AFP, then fired a shot at Bredesen, saying he “has been running for office since Marsha was a senior in high school. Chuck Schumer has made it clear he has already bought and paid for Bredesen’s vote.”
AFP-Tennessee State Director Tori Venable later issued a statement saying “make no mistake about it: If Phil Bredesen had his druthers, Tennesseans would have been saddled with higher taxes throughout his time as governor.
“But now that it’s a politically inconvenient position, he’s working overtime to rewrite history — and is even taking credit for the legislature’s rejection of his own bad ideas,” Venable said.