Campaign ads have gone beyond limits
Published 7:00 pm Sunday, November 10, 2019
Questionable and exaggerated political advertisements and TV commercials often use bits of factual information to try and bolster their arguments for or against a candidate. However, a TV commercial by President Donald Trump attacking Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards has Democrats and some Republicans scratching their heads.
The Advocate said the video in question that is promoted by the Louisiana Republican Party has Trump saying, “Eddie Rispone (Edwards’ GOP opponent in the runoff) will protect your Second Amendment. John Bel Edwards will not.” The newspaper said Edwards, Trump and Rispone hold generally the same position on guns.
Asked about that political commercial after he voted early, Rispone said he couldn’t speak for Trump on why he is attacking Edwards on gun control. The Advocate said when both men were asked during a primary debate whether they support background checks for all firearm sales, they offered up similar positions.”
The governor, after speaking to the Press Club of Baton Rouge, said of the Trump TV spot, “It’s something that they do in every race. It’s boilerplate stuff. It doesn’t matter if it’s a lie.”
Edwards added, “The only difference between me and the president is I’ve actually been a gun owner since I was nine years old, and Santa Claus brought me an Ithaca 20-gauge feather-light pump shotgun that I have been using ever since. It’s still in my gun closet.”
During a later interview, Edwards said, “I don’t take a back seat to anybody on this issue. It’s a line of attack against me that’s just demonstrably false. I assume somebody has given him (Trump) bad information.”
The governor has noted he has support from Richard Lipsey, whose family owns Lipsey’s Firearms, one of the nation’s largest gun wholesalers. He also mentioned his role in passing a change to Louisiana’s constitution in 2012 to make it more difficult to pass gun control laws.
State Sen. Neil Riser, a Columbia Republican who sponsored that constitutional amendment, credited Edwards with helping round up votes on the House side, where Edwards was then leader of the Democrats.
Riser told The Advocate, “He (Edwards) played a key role in gathering votes together. He agreed it transcends party lines… I’m appreciative of the fact that he helped recognize that and helped me get that piece of legislation passed.”
The current gubernatorial campaign is one of the bitterest in recent years. The political action committees over which candidates have no control have stretched the truth beyond normal bounds. However, the Second Amendment attack is totally inaccurate, and Louisiana voters deserve better.
