What is a Senate candidate to do when a former
president tells her not to use his image in her
campaigns ads? Ignore him, apparently.
Michelle Nunn, the Democratic nominee in
Georgia, found herself in another spat with
former President George H.W. Bush after she
showed a picture of them together in her latest
television ad, despite repeated requests from
his office for her not to do so.
Nunn often touts the seven years she spent
heading up Bush's Points of Light Foundation.
Nunn is making a surprisingly strong run for an
open Senate seat in the red state, and she often
touts the seven years she spent heading up
Bush's Points of Light Foundation . In the new
ad , she highlights her work with several
presidents, including both presidents Bush and
Barack Obama. The Nunn campaign insisted she
just wanted the voters of Georgia to know how
much she respected the elder Bush. Not so, said
the former president's spokesman, Jim
McGrath.
“Michelle and her team have been clearly,
repeatedly and consistently told that President
Bush did not want them to use his photo as part
of this campaign. Apparently, the Nunn team
feels they can repeatedly disregard the former
president’s wishes, which is very disappointing
because it’s so disrespectful.”
Bush's people were similarly displeased when
Nunn invoked his name and image in an ad in
April . McGrath said in an email that "several of
the president's representatives have discreetly
and directly communicated to all levels of the
Nunn campaign that his photo was not to be
used under any circumstance."
Nunn spokesman Nathan Click wouldn't discuss
the communications, saying only that she "has
the utmost respect for President Bush and their
work together at Points of Light."
Nunn has closed to within a point of Republican
David Perdue in the RealClearPolitics polling
average . With control of the Senate up for
grabs, the battle has created an awkward
situation for multiple members of the Bush
family. As expected, the 41st president has
endorsed Perdue, while his son, Neil, has risen
to Nunn's defense against harsh attacks from
Republicans.
Neil Bush is the chairman of Points of Light
while Nunn served as CEO. Last month he
released a glowing statement about her that,
while not an endorsement, more or less
validated the core of her campaign platform.
“We have a very complex organization, and she
dealt with issues very wisely and well," he said,
according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution .
"She showed the right kind of visionary
leadership – a non-partisan or bipartisan
approach to our service world. It’s evidence by
the fact that Neil Bush, a member of a
prominent Republican family, kind of teamed
up with a Nunn, a member of a prominent
Democratic family.
It just showed that, though our nation is
divided in politics, we can come together as
Americans to solve some of our more
intractable problems. Michelle worked the
nonpartisan part of the job really well. I have
lots of admiration for her as a leader of our
organization, and a lot of respect for her
willingness to jump in and try to find ways to
serve in other capacities."
The Bushes would probably just as soon be done
with the Nunn unpleasantness, but that may not
happen anytime soon. Either Nunn or Perdue
needs to reach 50 percent of the vote on
November 4 to avoid run-off that could take the
election into January. If the polls stay where
they are, that overtime looks more and more
likely to happen.
This article was originally published at http://
www.theatlantic.com/politics
No comments:
Post a Comment