29 September 2016
Pro-Juras attack PAC mud-splats Sandefur with Willie Horton genre ad
Remember the 1988 Willy Horton attack ad? The brutal “Michael Dukakis is soft on crime” ad featuring convicted murderer Willy Horton, who, during a weekend pass from prison, committed rape, assault, and armed robbery? If you’re under 50, you might not — unless you’re a student of the dark art of political character assassination. In that case, you know it’s a classic of the mud bomb genre.
Now there’s a 30-second attack ad, The Last Straw, that’s at least as nasty as the Willie Horton ad. Produced by the Stopsetemfreesandefur.com Committee, PAC, it accuses Montana Supreme Court candidate Dirk Sandefur, a district court judge in Great Falls, of slapping pornographers and child molesters on the wrist instead of clapping them in the quod for eternity.
Script: For some, it’s Judge Dirk Sandefur’s refusal to give prison time to two child pornographers. For others, the last straw is Sandefur’s mere seven-year sentence of a man guilty of repeatedly raping a 10-year old girl. But for all, Dirk Sandefur’s decision to give no prison time to a man convicted of sexually assaulting a toddler and holding a gun to the child’s head is the Last Straw.
It’s been running for a week or so — and according to informal reports I’ve received, deeply frightening women, especially mothers. That’s clearly the intent.
The ad is based on three stories from the Great Falls Tribune:
- Man admits guilt in child porn case, published on 5 February 2016.
- Child porn cases: Two receive less probation than recommended, published on 1 July 2016.
- A story not available online, published on 9 January 2004.
Another Jake Eaton production
Stopsetemfreesandefur.com Committee, filed its C-2 Statement of Organization form with the Montana Commissioner of Political Practices on 19 September 2016. The PAC’s website was registered with godaddy.com on 20 September. No financial report is available yet.
The PAC’s treasurer is Jake Eaton of Billings, a Republican operative that Intelligent Discontent’s Don Pogreba reported in 2013 is more than willing to throw high and tight.
You remember Mr. Eaton, right? He’s the Republican Executive Director who led the effort to disenfranchise Native Americans, college students, war veterans, and the elderly back in 2008. The person judge Donald Malloy mocked mercilessly in one of the most entertaining court decisions I’ve ever had the chance to read. The person who helped lead Denny Rehberg to defeat in 2012.
Eaton is also a principal at the state’s worst political consulting firm, 47 North Communications.
How will Sandefur respond?
The Last Straw is ugly, but effective. It depicts Sandefur as a bleeding heart judge with a record of failing to protect children from sexual predators. He’ll need to respond.
Meanwhile, the case against Kristen Juras was made today by John Heenan writing at Montana Cowgirl.