Mark Sanford Is Losing Badly So Republicans Are Breaking Out The Dirty Tricks

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In a last gasp bit of desperation, Republicans are anonymously push-polling South Carolina District 1 to spread rumors that Elizabeth Colbert- Busch had an abortion.

Think Progress broke the story of the push-polls coming from hidden phone numbers to voters in South Carolina’s first congressional district.

Here are the questions that are being asked,

“What would you think of Elizabeth Colbert Busch if I told you she had had an abortion?”
“What would you think of Elizabeth Colbert Busch if I told you a judge held her in contempt of court at her divorce proceedings?
“What would you think of Elizabeth Colbert Busch if she had done jail time?”
“What would you think of Elizabeth Colbert Busch if I told you she was caught running up a charge account bill?”
“What would you think of Elizabeth Colbert Busch if she supported the failed stimulus plan?”
“What would you think of Elizabeth Colbert Busch if I told you unions contributed to her campaign?”

The bottom two questions are talking points that Mark Sanford repeated over and over again during their debate on Monday. The other four questions are baseless smears that Republicans are using to try to poison the well of potential moderate and conservative Colbert-Busch voters. Being that the national party is not funding Sanford, these calls are probably coming from supporters close to the Sanford campaign, or an outside group that is taking advantage of Citizens United to anonymously attack Colbert-Busch.

This isn’t the first time that push-polling has been used in this election. During the Republican primary in the district, someone was push-polling on behalf of the candidacy of state Rep. Chip Limehouse.

The push-poll is a favorite tactics of candidates with high negative approval ratings who think their only chance of winning is to decrease the positive feelings that voters may have for their opponent. Sanford has a 56% unfavorable rating, and his performance at Monday’s debate made it clear that he has no chance of winning if he has to depend on voters liking him. Instead, he has decided to drag Elizabeth Colbert-Busch through the mud.

This is the tactic of a desperate political party that knows they are losing a seat that they should easily be winning.

It seems that Republicans have found a new way to snatch defeat from the jaws of easy victory.

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Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

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