Abortion foe says graphic ads like the ones he used in Oklahoma will make a statement
BY RANDY KREHBIEL World Staff Writer
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
2/22/12 at 3:55 AM
Anti-abortion activist Randall Terry said Tuesday that he intends to turn Oklahoma's otherwise meaningless March 6 Democratic presidential primary into a referendum on "dead babies."
Terry's campaign has placed about 100 television spots in Oklahoma markets, including stations in Amarillo and Wichita Falls, Texas, and Fort Smith, Ark., which reach into Oklahoma.
Because of Federal Communications Commission rules, most stations are required to accept Terry's graphic and sometimes grisly advertisements featuring dead and dismembered fetuses.
A long-time Republican with no real aspirations for the presidency, Terry says his campaign is strictly about denying President Barack Obama a second term and promoting his own anti-abortion message.
"My ads are designed to suppress votes for Obama," Terry said. "They're intended to cause nightmares."
Terry said getting "6 to 7 percent" of the Oklahoma vote would be enough "to show the Democratic National Committee I can cause defections based solely on dead babies and Obama's tyranny."
Ten percent, he said, would be "a national news story" and make it easier for him to raise money for television ads in more expensive Eastern markets, especially Washington, D.C.
"If I get 15 percent," he said, "I get (national convention) delegates."
State Democratic Party Chairman Wallace Collins said he doubts that Terry can get 10 percent of Democratic votes here because "99.9 percent of the people of Oklahoma have never heard of him."
Collins said most people don't realize that anyone is on the Democratic ballot except Obama - there are, in fact, five Democratic candidates in Oklahoma - but that is one of the things Terry is counting on.
The combination of a low expected turnout, Obama's low approval rating in Oklahoma and the conservatism of many state Democrats all played into Terry's decision to focus his resources on a Democratic primary in a small, solidly Republican state.
Terry says a good showing in Oklahoma would make him a factor in swing states such as Virginia, North Carolina and Florida.
"My mission is to defeat (Obama) in the swing states with these incredibly gruesome ads," he said.
Original Print Headline: Abortion foe says graphic ads will make a statement
Randy Krehbiel 918-581-8365
randy.krehbiel@tulsaworld.com
