It Pays To Do Opposition Research

Setting aside the inherent honesty or dishonesty of the Michael J. Fox stem cell ads, the one that’s running in Maryland is bound to backfire. For starters, the only person in the race ever to have cast a vote against stem cell research is the candidate Fox is supporting. Back in July, Ben Cardin voted against the Alternate Stem Cell Research Methods bill that the two liberal MD Senators, Barbara Mikulski and Paul Sarbanes (whose seat Cardin's trying to win), both supported. Apparently Cardin’s position is that he won’t accept a cure that doesn’t involve killing babies. And he'll only vote for methods that haven't shown any promise yet. Brilliant.

And then there’s this stinging new response ad from Michael Steele, which I found at The Corner:

STEELE: I'm Michael Steele, and I approve this message.

TURNER: I'm Dr. Monica Turner. Congressman Ben Cardin is attacking Michael Steele with deceptive, tasteless ads. He is using the victim of a terrible disease to frighten people all for his own political gain. Mr. Cardin should be ashamed. There's something you should know about Michael Steele. He does support stem cell research, and he cares deeply for those who suffer from disease.

How do I know? I'm Michael Steele's little sister. I have MS, and I know he cares about me.

Oops. (I don't think it was too bright of Cardin to skip an NAACP-sponsored debate in an up-and-coming black county last night, either.)