Kerrey Camp Cries Foul Over GOP Super PAC Ad

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Bob Kerrey’s Senate campaign in Nebraska is crying foul over a GOP super PAC ad that uses a clip of Kerrey taken out of context. The Kerry campaign says in an email to supporters that the ad, from Karl Rove’s American Crossroads, is a “complete lie” and “may cross legal boundary.” 

The Crossroads ad attacks Kerrey for lobbying “for Obama’s job-killing energy tax.” It then uses a clip from Kerrey, “urging senators to say, ‘Damn the consequences, I’m gonna vote yes.'”

The Kerrey campaign quickly sent out original footage to provide context for the clip. In it, Kerrey described his efforts on behalf of the environmental group National Resources Defense Council to get senators on board for for cap and trade. Kerrey said that the best argument for getting senators to vote yes was a moral one –if they didn’t vote yes, they would regret it much like those who voted against the 1964 Civil Rights Act. When Kerry said he wanted “people finally to say, ‘Damn the consequences, I’m going to vote ‘yes,’” he was talking about political consequences for doing the right thing, not the consequences of the legislation.

Here’s the original context

Here’s the ad:

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