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February 7, 2012

Hoekstra defends 'Debbie Spenditnow' ad

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Associated Press

LANSING — Criticism of a Senate campaign ad featuring an Asian woman talking in broken English about China taking away U.S. jobs grew Monday as some warned it could revive discrimination against Asian-Americans.

Republican Senate hopeful Pete Hoekstra began taking heat after his ad targeting Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow ran statewide Sunday before the Super Bowl.

"Mr. Hoekstra may believe that his ad is just a way to express his political goals. But it does so in a manner that points the finger at Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders for our nation's problems," said Thomas Costello, president and CEO of the Michigan Roundtable for Diversity and Inclusion, a civil rights organization in Detroit.

The ad was made by Fred Davis of California-based Strategic Perception Inc., known for Gov. Rick Snyder's "one tough nerd" ads.

Hoekstra told reporters Monday that his ad is "insensitive" only to the spending philosophy of Stabenow and President Barack Obama.

"We knew we were taking an aggressive approach on this. But this is a time where the people in Michigan and across the country are fed up with the spending, and we wanted to capture that frustration that they had with Washington, D.C.," he said. "This ad ... hits Debbie smack dab between the eyes on the issue where she is vulnerable with the voters of Michigan, and that is spending."

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