Wow...they're really doing this. Has Kerry gone nuts? I'm no lawyer, but based on what little I know about libel, his chance of winning ranges from slim to none.
However, a guy here in the newsroom tells me that this is actually not unusual. He said it's common for candidates to threaten to sue over campaign ads. News to me. Wonder if he's right...?
Laws protecting consumers from false advertising of products are enforced pretty vigorously. For example, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) took action in 2002 to protect the public from the self-proclaimed psychic "Miss Cleo," whom the FTC said promised free readings over the phone and then socked her gullible clients with enormous telephone charges. The FTC even forced a toy company a while back to stop running ads showing its "Bouncin' Kid Ballerina Kid" doll standing alone and twirling gracefully without human assistance, which the FTC said was video hokum.
But there's no such truth-in-advertising law governing federal candidates. They can legally lie about almost anything they want. In fact, the Federal Comunications Act even requires broadcasters who run candidate ads to show them uncensored, even if the broadcasters believe their content to be offensive or false.
And of course, if the ad is true, case closed.
Remember when the RATs ran that ad about the black in Jasper, Texas, and had Bush as the bad guy and it was his fault. Didn't hear them threaten to sue in 2000 and the ad was lies.