Today Coleman for Senate released a new ad asking Al Franken and his allies to stop this smear campaign against Senator Norm Coleman's wife and family.  The ad is on our website, with a link provided below, and we've included here the script of the ad, as well as a statement our campaign manager Cullen Sheehan made today during a press conference to unveil the ad.  We are calling on Al Franken and his allies to stop this 11th hour attack and smear campaign on Norm's wife Laurie.   We want you to be aware of this important spot featuring Norm and Laurie, and our call for a positive campaign focused on the issues.  Minnesota voters deserve better than these baseless, defamatory attacks.

 

SCRIPT:

Norm Coleman: "Al Franken's eleventh hour attack: phony accusations filled with lies, delivered anonymously to a Minnesota paper before being filed in a Texas court. A vicious personal attack on my wife. This time Al Franken's crossed the line. My name's on the ballot, I'm fair game for his ugly smears. My wife and family are not.  In Minnesota, this is as dirty as it gets. I'm Norm Coleman and I approve this message because there's got to be a better way."

"There's Got To Be A Better Way" can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/colemanforsenate.

Today Coleman for Senate Campaign Manager Cullen Sheehan made the following statement (as prepared for delivery):

 

"Today, we are unveiling a new commercial that will begin airing immediately. It's not how we hoped to end this campaign...a campaign we are proud to say has earned the endorsement of most major newspapers in the state.  Our intention was to end this campaign talking about a vision for the future--jobs, the economy and energy independence...talking about a Senate in which we find the solutions to the challenges that are hurting so many Minnesotans.

 

Al Franken won't allow that to happen because Al Franken has decided that he cannot win a campaign based on the politics of the positive.

 

Before I show this commercial, I would like to make a few comments.

 

The sorry saga of Al Franken and his Democratic allies cowardly and sleazy attacks against Laurie Coleman began with an unmarked envelope sent to reporters last week before any lawsuits were filed.   That envelope contained - not a lawsuit - but false allegations that became the basis of a lawsuit that was filed in Texas on Monday.

 

The Franken Campaign, along with his Democratic allies, took what they know to be false, baseless and defamatory allegations and have begun to run television and radio commercials attacking and defaming Laurie Coleman's integrity - her job - and her reputation.

 

This is an act of political cowardice - and Al Franken and his Democratic attack allies have become masters of the game. This is a pattern which began on Monday when Al Franken's campaign began airing a false, baseless ad against Senator Coleman, an ad that was roundly rejected as false by the media.

 

This is a conspiracy of sleaze.  And no matter how much he tries, Al Franken cannot wash his hands of this despicable act.  The allegations mailed to reporters- became a lawsuit quickly tied to an ad - which was on the air in virtually the same news cycles as the lawsuit being filed...and on the heels of a majority of public opinion polls showing that his campaign is foundering. 

 

With days left before what is arguably the biggest election in the country outside the United States Presidential Campaign  -- Al Franken and his allies have launched the most despicable - the lowest - and the most degrading attack yet against Norm Coleman's family.  We are thankful that most in the media have called this what it is--a last act of desperation from a candidate who has built a career at the expense of others. 

 

Where does it end? 

 

We believe it ends with the people of Minnesota who will reject these cowardly attacks.  We believe it ends with the people of Minnesota rejecting the vicious personal smears of a candidate who has built a career out of attacking people's reputations - and their integrity.  We believe it ends when the people of Minnesota have the opportunity to reject the politics of personal destruction. 

 

These attacks are beyond the 11th hour, last minute smears we knew were coming.

 

These attacks are the kind that people who care about nothing other than power and winning an election are willing to wage.

 

It is beyond shameless - it is the stuff that cowards are made of - and Al Franken has committed the most cowardly act in all of politics - attacking the wife and family of a candidate he can't defeat on the merits of his own record.