"Mont. senator unhappy with doctored ad photo
HELENA, Mont. - Senator Jon Tester of Montana isn’t happy about a Republican attack advertisement portraying him with all five fingers on his left hand - even though he lost three fingers in a childhood accident.
Tester, a first-term Democrat, is being challenged in his 2012 reelection bid by Representative Denny Rehberg, one of the best-known Republicans in Montana. Polls have shown the race is very tight, and it is expected to be among the most watched in the nation as the parties vie for control of the Senate.
Both Tester and Rehberg are expected to get plenty of outside help and money.
The most recent hullabaloo comes over an ad from the National Republican Senatorial Committee that portrays Tester as cozy with Washington lobbyists. It also shows a photo of Tester happily greeting President Obama, aiming to send a message to Montana voters about the ties between the two.
But the edited photo portrays Tester as having a left hand with all five fingers. Three of those fingers were taken when Tester, as a child, was working in the family farm’s butcher shop.
Tester spokesman Aaron Murphy said “from the made-up photo to the misleading message, the whole ad is an inaccurate picture of Jon and his record.’’
Republicans said yesterday that someone else’s left hand was accidentally left in the photo. The Republican committee argues the mix-up doesn’t change the message of the ad.
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