Democrats Call Out GOP On Its Immigration Lies

We were all outraged when the GOP took out radio ads asserting that Democrats had advocated criminalizing undocumented immigrants.  I wondered what the Democratic response would be.  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid foreshadowed the Democratic response with this statement:

I will fight back against this vicious smear in Nevada, but it will only stop if we show Republicans there is a price to pay for their lies. I'm not going to ask you to contribute to me, but to Democrats running for Senate around the country. We have a real shot at taking back the majority in November and that would be the best revenge.[...]

The Republicans should not pick this fight. I've been in more boxing rings then all of them combined. And when you throw a punch at me, you end up on the mat.

So Reid turned the Republican's tactics against them, using their lies to raise money to defeat GOP candidates. Awesome.

And the DNC? Well, it has launched a series of Spanish-lanuages ads to counter the GOP lies. The ads will be aired nationally through Univision, including targetted markets in Nevada, New Mexico, and Arizona.  Here is the text:

Democrats support tough and smart immigration reform. We want to strengthen our borders; as well as U.S. workers and their wages. We want for immigrants who obey the law and pay taxes to be able to apply for U.S. citizenship.

That's immigration reform that matches American values: tough and smart.

Now Republicans are lying to us.

They control Congress and the White House, and in five years have done nothing. They've failed.

If they wanted comprehensive immigration reform and to protect our borders, they would have done it already.

But what Republicans and President Bush supported was a plan that would criminalize immigrants, families, doctors, and even churches just for giving communion.

Call Republican Senator Bill Frist at 202-224-3135 and tell him to allow a vote on immigration reform.

You can listen to the ad here. Oh, and Democrats aren't stopping there. The DNC is also taking out similar ads in Spanish newspapers, as well as ads in Asian American, Irish, and Polish print media.

Reid is right. The Republicans shouldn't have picked this fight. The GOP thought it could disassociate itself from its atrocious immigration bill by peddling blatant lies, thinking that Democrats would just let it slide. Not this time, not this year, not this issue.

Our Minority Leader isn't afraid of using the word "lie."  The DNC isn't shrinking from the word "lying." Democrats are fighting back, and they're painting Republicans as the lying liars they are.

It's about time.