TIPA - Truth In Political Advertising

ACCURACY = 2.3 out of 10.0. This advertisement is an outright and despicable lie. It intentionally and maliciously warps the facts to mislead voters.

FAIRNESS = 2.1 out of 10.0. This ad contains an unfounded or unjustified personal attack on a candidate which is patently unfair.

RELEVANCE = 4.7 out of 10.0. This ad does not directly address and issues considered important to this Senate race.

OVERALL = 2.7 out of 10.0. This advertisement should be publicly denounced by both campaigns and removed from the air immediately.

The first attack ad released by a third party in this campaign, “Summitville” is a shameless attack on Ken Salazar, intentionally lying about his record as head of Colorado' Deptartment of Natural Resources.

Released by Americans for Job Security, a Virginia-based "trade organization", the ad narrates the story of a cyanide spill that occured in a Summitville mine in the 1980's, describing it as the worst environmental disaster in Colorado's history. It then blames Ken Salazar for "his agency's lax oversight" and for "cutting deals with the foreign millionaire responsible", among other things. All of these claims are patently false. In reality, Salazar didn't even join the DNR until long after the mine had been operating. In addition, the settlement Salazar negotiated was the largest penalty ever paid by an individual in the history of the state of Colorado, and a record for an environmental case.

Based on the ratings provided by Advisory Panel members and weighted so Democrats and Republicans were equal in number from a statistical averaging perspective, the TIPA has compiled a set of ratings for the advertisement “Summitville”.

The TIPA uses a "1" to "10" rating scale for Accuracy (with greater accuracy reflected by a higher rating), Fairness (with a higher rating indicating a greater degree of fairness), and Relevancy (with a higher rating meaning the advertisement was most relevant to the U.S. Senate campaign). The Rating System is presented in detail on the TIPA Web site.

ACCURACY RATING. “Summitville” received a despicable Accuracy rating of 2.3.

The advertisement intentionally misleads voters with stretched or completely fabricated claims. One Advisory Panel member opined, "I think this was a terrible distortion of the facts. It is my recollection that Ken did the best he could in the settlement as he was dealing with a foreign company and much of what occured happened before he took office as DNR Director.”

Demonstrating the lack of partisanship on the TIPA Advisory Panel, a Republican panelist stated, "I think the facts were stretched to distort Ken's role in this issue."

Both Republicans and Democrats rated the Accuracy of the ad as deplorable, at 2.3 and 1.5 respectively. Independent panelists rated the ad a 4.0.

FAIRNESS RATING. This ad received a Fairness rating of 2.1, the lowest of any ad released by anyone during this entire campaign.

One Advisory Panel member expressed, “I HATE this ad, it is misleading, inappropriate, was repudiated by the major papers, etc. It is the worst example of the 527's, and causes me to want to close yet another loophole around 'free speech'.”

Another panelist opined, "What the ad omits is the reason why Salazar's agency negotiated with the mine's owner, and the practical reason behind the settlement. Rather, it implies cooperation with Summitville."

All three parties thought the Fairness of the ad was completely unacceptable, with Republicans giving it a score of 2.0, Democrats rating it a 1.5 and Independent rating it a 3.5.

RELEVANCE RATING. This advertisement received a Relevance rating of 4.7. Although the environment is an issue of major concern to Colorado voters, this ad's sleazyness reduces its relevance significantly.

A Republican panelist noted, “Dealing with the environment is important to most voters.”

Democrats rated the Relevance of this ad extremely low (2.0), while Republicans (6.0) and Independents (7.5) found it significantly more relevant.

OVERALL RATING. This advertisement is an example of the type of political advertising that is poisoning our political process. With an overall rating of 2.7, this ad should be publicly denounced by both campaigns and pulled from the air immediately.

(C) Copyright 2004 by the Democracy & Media Education Foundation. All rights reserved. Reproduction, duplication, transmission, or conveyance of this document – in whole or in part – without the express written consent of the DMEF is strictly prohibited. Bona fide print and electronic Press organizations, however, may quote this Report as long as proper attribution is given (i.e., “The Truth In Political Advertising Project”) and the quotation or reference accurately reflects the contents and conclusions of this Report. For questions, please call Zachary Adler at (303) 449-5043 or send an e-mail to Zachary@TIPAP.org. Thank you.