Baldwin campaign asks stations to pull pro-Israel group's ad in Wisconsin

I wrote recently about ads that the hawkish Emergency Committee for Israel went up with a brutal spot against Tammy Baldwin in the Wisconsin Senate race backed by a roughly $500,000 buy.


Her campaign's counsel emailed stations where the spot is airing asking that it come down, saying it's false, according to a letter obtained by POLITICO. ECI fired back a justification letter, viewable here, and the spot, I'm told, has stayed on the air. The letters were exchanged five days ago.

I reached out to a Baldwin aide for comment, but haven't heard back. ECI Executive Director Noah Pollak blasted Baldwin, who is running against former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson, for trying to have the spots pulled (a fairly routine move by campaigns, but one that can backfire if it doesn't work).

"These undemocratic tactics vindicate the message of our ad — that Baldwin doesn't want voters to know how extreme her foreign policy record is," he said. "It's all the more reason why that record should face scrutiny in the coming weeks."

* This post has been updated