A source sent over the audio of a brutal ad running on Louisiana radio. The one-minute segment, paid for by Republican Senate hopeful Chet Traylor, calls on voters to “man up” and oppose David Vitter, citing his long record of public scandals over the years.
“Why is Congress so corrupt? David Vitter, he’s part of the corruption,” the ad’s narrator says.
Now it’s time to man up. A judge found Vitter committed battery on a woman. It was an unprovoked attack. Next, Vitter’s notorious scandal with the DC Madam. She ran an escort service for powerful men in Washington, if you know what I mean. Then a former prostitute said she, well, serviced Vitter on numerous occasions in New Orleans. That’s family values, right? Now, Vitter’s Senate aide for women affairs holds his girlfriend hostage while slashing her face with a knife. Vitter didn’t fire the aide. Vitter gave him two more years on his public payroll. Some conservative, huh? Hey Vitter. What’s next? Republicans, it’s time to man up for change.
You can listen to the audio here:
NPR in Baton Rouge highlighted the segment on the Jim Engster Show today.
Traylor was a last minute entrant in the GOP primary, and has been on the offense in recent days, hoping that he can force Vitter into a runoff by repeatedly reminding voters of Vitter’s scandal-plagued past. The GOP primary will be held August 28.
Regarding the claim that “a judge found Vitter committed battery on a woman,” in the early 90s, Vitter approached a woman questioning him and tried to wrestle her tape recorder away from him. She sued in civil court, alleging assault and battery, and the court awarded her $50. The judge in the case concluded “Having determined that Mr. Vitter, in an excited and agitated state, left the head of the room, walked directly to Ms. Hernandez with his arm outstretched, intending to take hold of the tape recorder, and momentarily touched the recorder and Ms. Hernandez, the Court finds that Mr. Vitter committed a battery upon Ms. Hernandez.” The judge also found, “the actual altercation between Ms. Hernandez and Mr. Vitter lasted only a minute or two. Mr. Vitter immediately recovered his composure, reestablished control of the situation, and returned to the head of the room. There is no objective evidence that Ms. Hernandez suffered any actual physical injury whatsoever.”
Brian Beutler
Brian Beutler is TPM's senior congressional reporter. Since 2009, he's led coverage of health care reform, Wall Street reform, taxes, the GOP budget, the government shutdown fight, and the debt limit fight. He can be reached at brian@talkingpointsmemo.com.
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