Last December, as part of my Open Seat Initiative, I interviewed Martin Heinrich, who is a very attractive candidate in New Mexico’s First District. It was a long interview that covered many issues. In fact, I didn’t conduct the interview in person, or over the phone. I submitted my questions in writing and Mr. Heinrich was kind and thoughtful enough to respond in full. I was lucky to meet up with Mr. Heinrich in Austin over the summer and he is a personable, friendly, and decent person with great ideas for leading this country in Congress.
I’m sad to announce that a small portion of our interview has been lifted and distorted beyond all recognition by the Republican Party of New Mexico. They’ve turned it into a 30-second attack ad.
The ad cites the interview as a source for their charge that Heinrich promised to deny our troops ‘body armor, bullets, and other critical equipment unless they are pulled from Iraq.’ The charge is scurrilous. Here’s the relevant part of the interview:
BOOMAN TRIBUNE: Since the invasion of Iraq, there have been periodic supplemental funding bills. Would you have put any conditions on supporting those supplemental bills? What conditions?
HEINRICH: Yes. A safe, honorable and timely redeployment of our troops.
BOOMAN TRIBUNE: This year, 2007, had been the deadliest year for our troops in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Do you support an immediate drawdown of troops in Iraq, with the ultimate aim of complete withdrawal?
HEINRICH: I believe that we must end the war in Iraq as soon as possible. I also believe that we need to combine our withdrawal with a diplomatic surge. This diplomatic surge must include multilateral and bilateral talks that bring both domestic and international stakeholders to the table to hash out a political solution that will bring an end to the violence. Given the mess George Bush and his allies in Washington have made, we owe a strong commitment to a political settlement to the Iraqi people.
BOOMAN TRIBUNE: In July 2007, Senator Webb introduced an amendment that would have ensured that troops have as much time at home as they have in combat. The Republicans filibustered the bill even though it had 56 supporters in the Senate. Would you have supported the Webb amendment?
HEINRICH: Yes. I am a strong supporter of our servicemen and women. We must not overextend our military lest we weaken our military. Our troops have given so much for our country and we must make sure that they are taken care of both while they’re on active duty and when the[y] retire to civilian life.
Heinrich specifically says that “we must make sure that [our troops] are taken care of both while they’re on active duty and when the[y] retire to civilian life.” He doesn’t say that he will deny soldiers body armor, bullets, or other critical equipment unless they are pulled from Iraq. He says he won’t vote for a supplemental bill unless it provides for a “safe, honorable and timely redeployment of our troops.” And he goes on to explain that “we need to combine our withdrawal with a diplomatic surge,” and “we owe a strong commitment to a political settlement to the Iraqi people.” In other words, Heinrich promised to insist on a process that combined a withdrawal plan for our troops with a surge plan for our State Department and a continued responsibility to work towards a political settlement in Iraq.
He was quite explicit that the troops should get the support they need while they’re on active duty. It is only through the utmost distortion that you can twist this into a promise to leave the troops without supplies in a war zone. And, think about it…how can you leave troops in a war zone if you’ve just pulled them out of a war zone?
The Heinrich campaign is outraged by this smear and they are threatening legal action.
Heinrich’s campaign fired back today with a letter from its attorney to the three Albuquerque TV stations asking them to pull the ad, which it calls “false, misleading and deceptive,” as well as “spurious and libelous.” Failure to pull the ad, wrote attorney Karen Mendenhall, could threaten the stations’ federal broadcasting licenses.
Heinrich spokeswoman Angela Barranco said one station has agreed to fact-check the GOP ad to verify its claims and another has scheduled a meeting with the Heinrich campaign’s attorney. The third has ignored the request to pull the ad, she said…
…In her letter to the TV stations, Mendenhall said the state GOP’s claims are false, and she cites federal broadcasting regulations that require stations “to protect the public from false, misleading or deceptive advertising.” She concludes the letter by saying, “For the sake of both FCC licensing requirements and the public interest, your station should refuse to continue to air this advertisement.”
There’s only one way for Frog Pond denizens to respond to this outrageous use of our URL in a Republican attack ad. Drop Martin Heinrich some coin.
