Hightower Lowdown

In Wisconsin, the GOP ran an ad claiming that Democratic incumbent Ron Kind had voted to fund studies of “the masturbation habits of old men” and “to pay teenage girls to watch pornographic movies with probes connected to their genitalia.” Not true. Kind had merely voted against a bill to stop the National Institutes of Health from doing any sex studies. Yet the ad featured Ron with XXX stamped across his face. Kind, who won re-election with 65% of the vote, says, “We rip each other to shreds and then we’re all supposed to come back to Washington and try to work together. It’s a hell of a way to elect representatives.”

In a Gallup poll, 70% of Americans said they believe “not much” or “nothing at all” of what they hear in political ads.