Bob Turner (R) is a right-wing thug playing the moderate game as he vies for Anthony Weiner's former seat, New York's 9th District, against David Weprin (D).
Turner has made this race a tight one by lying about his support for Medicare and Social Security, when in fact, he once criticized the Ryan Plan for not going far enough in slashing spending. He has also slammed for Weprin, who would be the only Orthodox Jew in Congress, for not being a friend of Israel.
His first ad, however, lowers him from typical Republican loser to absolute scum of the sidewalk.
The ad begins with a shot of the towers in smoke on 9/11. The narrator suggests that the Park51 group, more infamously known as the "Ground Zero Mosque", wanted to 'commemorate' the 10-year anniversary of 9/11 by 'building a mosque.' The ad then blasts President Obama and Weprin (then a Councilmember) for supporting the plan. Weprin, like many electeds who were cowed by the ugliness that event spawned in New York, actually supported some sort of 'compromise.'
To recap the ad:
1. Invoking 9/11 shamlessly? Check.
2. Revisiting the ugly "Ground Zero Mosque" incident? Check.
3. Playing on people's fear and biases against Muslims? Check.
As a New Yorker very few things make me angrier than misappropriations of 9/11.
Let's get behind David Weprin for Congress, keep this seat blue, and rid the political world of Bob Turner.
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As I was about to press submit I stumbled across a similar post to this one at the Albany Times Union.