Honesty In Campaign Ads

The Dispatch has a good piece today that picks apart the crime figures used in the campaign ads of the Columbus Mayoral candidates.

And, of course, Bill Todd’s ad takes the stats out of context:

Todd’s most recent radio ad cites a 2006 murder rate in Columbus that was higher than those in New York and Los Angeles. What he doesn’t mention: The September FBI report he uses shows Columbus’ rate was lower than Cincinnati’s, Cleveland’s and 23 other cities’ with populations of more than 250,000.

And so, I am reminded, of one of the most honest campaign ads I’ve ever seen.

In this ad for the 1982 democratic primary for governor, Jerry Springer admits: “I spent time with a woman I shouldn’t have. And I paid her with a check.”