Politicians make efforts to block opponents ads

By Max Nerenberg


AP Photo by Al Grillo
Alaska Senator Ted Stevens speaks in Anchorage, Alaska
September 19.


As political ads are on the increase this election year, lawmakers are being forced to consider the limits on free speech when it comes to these ads, according to a Wall Street Journal article.
This month lawyers for Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens threatened action against Alaska broadcast stations that aired an attack ad. The ad, which alleged Stevens had received an illegal deal, when he traded his car in for a Land Rover, was attacked by Stevens’ lawyers for being inaccurate.
Stations would be required to air the commercial if it was paid for by a rival candidate, but it was instead paid for by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, a third party.
This is part of a trend, which some lawyers and station managers say is on the rise: lawyers for political candidates are trying to keep rival ads off the air.
“I think candidates want us to become the censors,” Mike Burgess, general manager of an Albuquerque NBC affiliate, told the Journal, “I don’t think that’s our job.”
Many of the ads under attack are those from third party groups, known as 527s (the section of tax law they operate under). These ads enjoy fewer protections because they are often considered more edgy than others, and they have looser financing rules than candidates.
John Zakhem, a republican election lawyer, who has taken part in several cease-and desist actions against third party ads told the Journal, “[527s] are not accountable to voters for what they say.
Ezra Reese, another attorney who has been involved in similar cases told the Journal that efforts to block third party ads have become standard in political campaigns.