[Important Note: "527" ads are political ads produced completely independent of a candidate. Groups who produce these ads are usually exempt from spending rules and other guidelines that the candidates themselves are subject to.]

        In the introduction to the Friday August 6, 2004, broadcast of NBC Nightly News, Tom Brokaw was hyperventilating over the new anti-Kerry television ad produced by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. The ad challenges Senator Kerry on his Vietnam War record. The independent, 527 ad prompted Brokaw to exclaim, "Have these ads gotten out of control!?" Brokaw later introduced a segment which was supposedly about the corrupting nature of these independent ads.

        Narrated by the partisan Andrea Mitchell, the segment began with an introduction of the Swift Boat ad. Mitchell felt compelled to chime that the piece portrayed veterans, "none of whom served on Kerry's boat." Although technically correct, this addendum is sorrowfully misleading, for some of the veterans worked quite closely with Kerry during his tour. Mitchell also reported, with the quote streaming across the screen, that Senator John McCain had denounced the ad as "dishonest and dishonorable." She then added, "Critics say the ad illustrates a larger problem with campaign finance reform" and "Some of these anonymous ads can be very negative." ("Anonymous"??!! That's another issue. Ugh.)

        But here's the kicker. When the subject of 527 ads turned to those in support of Kerry, Mitchell remarked, "This month, when John Kerry needs to save money for the fall, Democratic groups are giving him critical help, spending twice as much on ads as Republicans."

        In other words, Republican ads are "out of control," "dishonest and dishonorable," and "very negative." But Democratic ads provide "critical help."

        Back in January, the pro-Kerry, anti-Bush group, Moveon.org, posted an ad on its web site comparing President Bush to Adolph Hitler. And it's not until now that Brokaw is asking if these 527 ads are "out of control"??

 

TheMediaReport.com says ... Add Tom Brokaw to the list of Kerry supporters.

[Also, the same evening's NBC News also had an overly dour report on the nation's unemployment situation. In July, the country did not add as many jobs as hoped, but, still, 32,000 jobs were added to the 1.1 million jobs that have been created since the start of the year. Although the unemployment rate went down to 5.5%, the tone of Brokaw's report could have led many viewers to believe that the Second Great Depression was at our doorstep. "Soft" is how he described our economy. Here's the truth:]