A new Charlie Melancon radio ad running in Louisiana highlights Sen. David Vitter’s (R-LA) opposition to legislation that would have barred the government from contracting with companies that prevent victims from taking cases of assault, discrimination, rape, and other forms of abuse to court.
The segment is narrated by Jennie Waldrop, a rape victim who confronted Vitter at a town hall last year over his vote on that.
“I asked him how could you support a law that denies victims like me the right to defend myself,” she says in the ad. “He told me I didn’t know what I was talking about … and then he walked away. I never thought I’d get involved in politics, but David Vitter is a man unfit to be my Senator.”
You can see footage of her encounter with Vitter below. The audio of the ad is available here, and the script appears at the bottom of this post.
Melancon: “I’m Charlie Melancon, candidate for U.S. Senate, and I approve this message.”
Waldrop: “It was the kind of nightmare you never think you’ll experience. My name is Jennie Waldrop, and I was raped.
“For me, putting my attacker behind bars meant everything. But many women are denied that opportunity for justice.
“An American contractor in Iraq named Jamie Leigh Jones was raped by her coworkers. When she told her employer, they locked her in a cargo container. She filed suit, but the law didn’t allow it.
“Then Congress tried to change the law, David Vitter — MY SENATOR — voted against it.
“At a Town Hall, I asked him how could you support a law that denies victims like me the right to defend myself. He told me I didn’t know what I was talking about … and then he walked away.
“I never thought I’d get involved in politics, but David Vitter is a man unfit to be my Senator.”
