REVISED: Patriot Majority ad against Schaffer evokes forced abortions

WASHINGTON – Patriot Majority is turning up the heat on Republican U.S. Senate candidate Bob Schaffer.

A new television advertisement entitled “Sweatshop” aired by the progressive organization criticizing Schaffer for his opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act goes so far as to suggest that Schaffer has turned a blind eye on forced abortions for garment workers.

“Garment workers forced to have abortions. Massive safety violations. Sweatshop wages. All on American soil, and documented by our government,” an announcer intones in the 30-second spot. “But Congressman Bob Schaffer says it’s not our job to fix these problems. Now, here in Colorado, Schaeffer won’t support a law to help working families earn better wages and healthcare benefits. Tell Bob Schaffer to start standing up for working families.”

The advertisement references an April 10 Denver Post article detailing a 1999 trip Schaffer took to the Mariana Islands in 1999 with now-jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff. The article discussed how Abramoff and Schaffer had been tasked with representing factory owners whose employees worked in brutal conditions where forced abortions took place. Following the report, Schaffer said he looked into the allegations of abortions while on the trip but could find no evidence they occurred.

Patriot Majority president Craig Varoga noted in an e-mail message that Schaffer said in a September 1999 House Resources Committee hearing that it was not the federal government’s place to fix the Mariana workplace problems.

“It should be obvious to neutral observers that Congressman Schaeffer needs to change his position on these issues and begin to stick up for working families,” said Varoga.

Schaffer campaign manager Dick Wadhams, who was in Washington D.C. this weekend to attend a debate between Schaeffer and Democratic candidate Mark Udall, took aim at the Patriot Majority ad. While supporters of the Employee Free Choice act argue that it would allow workers greater ability to join labor organizations, Wadhams said the legislation took away an employee’s right to a secret ballot.

“It’s a great example of how insidious an ad can be,” Wadhams said. “Udall has been hammered by a lot of groups over his support of eliminating the secret ballot.”

Patriot Majority, which has hit Republicans in Senate races in New Hampshire and New Mexico and a host of House races across the country, is operated by Varoga, a veteran Democratic political consultant who was an advisor to former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack’s short-lived 2008 presidential campaign. Patriot Majority, along with its associated outfits Patriot Majority West and Patriot Majority Midwest, has been heavily funded by labor groups such as AFSCME and SEIU.

The organization joins a long list of independent groups playing in the Colorado Senate race, where Schaffer, a former congressman, is facing off against U.S. Rep. Mark Udall (D-Boulder). In the last several weeks alone the League of Conservation Voters and Freedom’s Watch have aired ads.

Patriot Majority is paying a combined total of $340,000 for the spot’s production and media buy.