Meet the Attack Lads – Harold Call Me!

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Instructions: Click on the images below to watch the ads and meet the attack lads. Red links will take you to an appendix with more information.

Harold, call me! (2006): TV spot featuring actress claiming to have met Tennessee Democratic Senate candidate Harold Ford Jr. at a Playboy party

created by
Scott Howell

Apprenticed at the RNC under Lee Atwater in the 1980s, then became political director of Karl Rove’s firm in Austin. Worked for Senator Saxby Chambliss’ (R-Ga.) 2002 campaign, which produced ad suggesting Dem incumbent and triple Vietnam War amputee Max Cleland didn’t have “courage” to fight Osama bin Laden.

works for
Rudy Giuliani

produced by
Terry Nelson

Political director for Bush/Cheney ’04. Named in prosecution of Tom DeLay for allegedly helping launder illegal corporate donations through national party. Was also James Tobin’s boss during New Hampshire phone-jamming scheme. Helped produce “Harold, call me!” while head of RNC’s independent expenditure unit in 2006.
He is the former campaign manager for John McCain.

works for
Mercury Public Affairs


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We were built for times like these

Russian bots are impersonating us. Trump and his allies want to silence us. AI wants to (and does!) steal our content. The list goes on. But with 50 years of experience, we know we were built for this moment: We’re ready to keep diving deep and uncovering the truth, then getting that to you right here, completely accessible and never behind a paywall.

While our work is free to read, watch, and listen to online, it’s incredibly costly to make. Court documents, travel, research: It all adds up. Because we’re a nonprofit newsroom, we rely on reader support to fund our investigations. Will you stand with us in these extraordinary times, as headlines clamour for our attention and disinformation is rampant? We can’t get the truth out without you.

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