This weekend, the DNC launched a new ad touting the support of “more and more leading Republicans” for health care reform. The ad claimed health insurance reform has the support of former GOP Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, former Republican Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson and former Senator and Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole.
“Bob Dole said, ‘I want this to pass, we’ve got to do something,'” the ad says.
Well, Bob Dole’s not too happy about that.
Dole’s spokesman told The New York Times this morning that “he believes it is deceptive, it was not authorized, and he asked that it be pulled.”
To Dole’s credit, the DNC did carve out an important part of Dole’s original quote, which appeared this summer in the Kansas City Star.
“I want this to pass,” he said. “I don’t agree with everything Obama is presenting, but we’ve got to do something.”
The emphasis is mine. But the DNC seems to have significantly changed the meaning of the quote by omitting that qualifier.
More from Dole spokesman Michael Marshall:
The ad makes it appear Sen. Dole is supporting the Democratic version of health-care reform. That is patently false. He is not supporting any bill out there. He has been pushing for bipartisanship and for leaders on both sides to come together to pass sound reform.
ABC News is now reporting that the White House has asked the DNC to pull the ad at Dole’s request.
The ad’s still online for now. Check it out while you still can:
