Kay Hagan Files Suit Against Elizabeth Dole, Elizabeth Dole Committee, Inc. for Defamation
Fayetteville Observer: “We understand Dole’s desperation. The polls show she’s trailing Hagan, and she’s dipping into her own pocket to support her campaign. But jumping into the deep end of the slime pool is no way to catch up.”
GREENSBORO, NC- Kay Hagan filed a lawsuit against Elizabeth Dole and the Elizabeth Dole Committee, Inc., after Dole declined to remove her new television ad, described by North Carolina newspapers as “indecent,” a “gross misrepresentation,” “dishonest,” and “beyond the bounds of acceptable political disagreement.”
“Like her time in the U.S. Senate, Elizabeth Dole has made her choices here, and that’s her decision,” said Hagan Campaign Communications Director Colleen Flanagan said. “But it’s equally our decision not to allow someone to slander Kay Hagan, impugn her character, her convictions and her faith, without any consequences. Elizabeth Dole would love nothing more than to distract from the issues and her record for the last 5 days of the campaign. In filing this suit, we’ve made clear that these kind of despicable tactics will not be tolerated, and our campaign is moving forward with the most important task at hand: defeating Elizabeth Dole, and giving North Carolina’s families a voice in the U.S. Senate that they’ve been sorely missing.”
Papers across the state, as well as fellow Republicans, have condemned Elizabeth Dole’s tactics over the last 24 hours.
CHARLOTTE OBSERVER: “This is indecent. It is the modern-day version of the “white hands” ad, a lie born of Dole’s desperation in a race in which she has trailed for weeks. It is also a deliberate attempt by Dole’s campaign not just to distort the truth, but to shatter Hagan’s admirable record as an elder for more than a decade in Greensboro’s First Presbyterian Church, as a Sunday School teacher and a volunteer in her church’s fundraising campaigns, worship services and community service programs… It has no place in N.C. politics. Unless she admits this egregious, shameful mistake and acts appropriately, Elizabeth Dole has no place in N.C. politics, either.”
ASHEVILLE CITIZEN-TIMES: “The ad is not only a gross misrepresentation of the circumstances surrounding the fundraiser, the implication that Kay Hagan believes “there is no God” flies in the face of her long and close involvement with First Presbyterian Church of Greensboro, where she is an elder and has taught Sunday School.”
GREENSBORO NEWS-RECORD: “If Elizabeth Dole is still the gracious person North Carolinians have admired for many years, she’ll pull her new attack ad off the air. It’s worse than dishonest in its depiction of rival Kay Hagan as a “Godless American.”… Even in a campaign long ago driven down in tone by Democrats and Republicans, this is a low blow. Making false insinuations about a candidate’s religious beliefs is beyond the bounds of acceptable political disagreement.”
FAYETTEVILLE OBSERVER: The paper called Dole’s attacks on Kay, “desperation” and saying they “understand Dole’s desperation. The polls show she’s trailing Hagan, and she’s dipping into her own pocket to support her campaign. But jumping into the deep end of the slime pool is no way to catch up.”
Kay released a new television ad earlier today that directly addresses her Christian faith and Dole’s desperate tactics. The ad can be seen at www.kayhagan.com.
BACKGROUND: Kay Hagan has filed a lawsuit against Elizabeth Dole and the Elizabeth Dole Committee, Inc. that outlines the nature of the complaint and informs the court that she will be seeking damages. After the suit was filed, the Wake County Clerk of Superior Court issued an order allowing us to file our formal complaint within 20 days.
Kay's Events
- Election Night Watch Party with Kay Hagan
- Nov 04, 2008
- Kay meets voters in Raleigh
- Nov 04, 2008
