John Hickenlooper told the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel he’s never run a negative ad against a political opponent, so the newspaper just took him at his word and ignored multiple news outlets reporting on the Democrat’s negative ad.
It all started when Hickenlooper complained to the Sentinel about the ads calling attention to the former governor’s ethical violations, while falsely claiming he would never authorize attack ads against his opponent.
He also criticized the Colorado Republican Committee for spending $20 million on what he called “attack ads” that he believes misrepresent the situation.
He said he won’t run any such advertisements against Gardner out of principle, saying that such advertisements from either side of the political spectrum harm democracy.
In a story the following day, the Sentinel claimed Hick’s negative ads are really just contrast ads.
To [Hickenlooper], any so-called negative ads produced by his campaign since the start of this month aren’t really negative. Instead he says they are “contrast” ads that are designed to point out differences between himself and Gardner.
Apparently the Sentinel doesn’t understand what a negative ad really is.
As 9News reported in early September, Hickenlooper was on the air with his first attack ad:
Democrat John Hickenlooper campaigned on not being a negative campaigner, yet paid for what appears to be his first negative ad against Republican Cory Gardner.
CBS4 also explained how Hickenlooper had broken his own clean campaign pledge.
Democratic Senate Candidate John Hickenlooper was once so opposed to negative ads, he made an ad about how he had to shower every time he saw one. I guess he likes showers, because he now has an ad attacking Republican incumbent Cory Gardner. And it’s not only negative… it’s highly misleading.
We know the state of journalism is at an all time low in Colorado, but now a daily newspaper won’t, or can’t even recognize a negative ad. Sad.