Janice Hahn Files FEC Complaint Over Hip-Hop Attack Ad
By Lora Neng
WWW.STREETGANGS.COM STAFF WRITER
June 20, 2011
The third-party political action committee Turn Right USA’s hip-hop ad attack of Janice Hahn raised the ire of many women, not least of which is the 36th Congressional District candidate Hahn, whose face was superimposed on a stripper’s body in the video.
The ad’s questioning of Hahn’s hiring of gang members as intervention specialists through derogatory imagery elicited immediate denunciation from both Democratics and Republicans. “This video is outrageous. Sexist ads like this are one of the reasons more women don’t run for political office,” said National Organization of Women President Terry O’Neill. “Every candidate must make clear to their funders and their supporters (and not with a wink-wink) that sexism and racism are not acceptable campaign tactics. These types of abusive attacks aren’t just harmful to candidates like Janice Hahn, but to all women.”
Los Angeles City Council member Janice Hahn claims that Turn Right has ties to her opponent Craig Huey through a former volunteer and that the organization was in violation of the FEC’s rule that a “Super PAC” is not allowed to raise unlimited funds from private donors when coordinating efforts directly with political campaigns.
Huey’s office denied connections to the film, as did a statement in the video. The one person who seems satisfied with the whole kerfuffle is filmmaker Ladd Ehlinger Jr., who said Huey missed an opportunity to point to “a kernel of truth” in the message. He was rather pleased with the buzz the controversy has helped reap for his viral campaign.
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