Updated Oct. 3, 4:04 p.m. ET
The Montana Republican Party appears to have employed a curious Photoshop maneuver in a mailer against Democratic Sen. Jon Tester.
The mailer depicts Tester in a business suit, arms outstretched, and being showered with money meant to symbolize stimulus spending. However, Tester is physically a very large man, with a history as a farmer — and this mailer shows his head placed atop a much skinnier body.
The Tester campaign told TPM on Wednesday it appears to have found the original source material — a photo of Rick Santorum, used by the pro-Romney super-PAC Restore Our Future during the Republican primaries in January, with the money meant to symbolize earmarks. The mailer was picked up at the time by CNN.
However, it appears that wasn’t even the true source, either. It turns out that the original source was a stock photo.
Another manipulation of the image was the photoshopping of extra cash to hide part of the left hand. Tester lost his middle three fingers on that hand in a meat-grinder accident at age 9. In addition, the campaign notes that Tester has never worn a ring on his right hand, due to the risk of a ring getting caught in farming machinery.
Tester campaign spokeswoman Alexandra Fetissoff told TPM: “Lobbyist Dennis Rehberg knows the only way he can beat Jon Tester is to try and turn Jon into someone he’s not–sometimes literally. Congressman Rehberg knows he can’t beat the Montana farmer who always puts Montana first, so he and the out-of-state special interests spending millions on his behalf will stop at nothing to deceive voters.”
The Montana GOP did not return TPM’s request for comment.
The PollTracker Average currently gives Tester a narrow edge in his battle with Montana’s at-large Rep. Denny Rehberg, with Tester ahead 44.3 percent to 44 percent.
Ed. note: This post has been updated to reflect that a stock photo was the original source.
