A few days after his Democratic opponent released a brutal campaign ad, Republican gubernatorial candidate and Louisiana Sen. David Vitter came back with his own ad in which he admits that he “failed” his family.
“Fifteen years ago, I failed my family, but found forgiveness and love,” Vitter says in the ad published Monday, referring to a 2007 incident in which he allegedly contacted prostitutes. “I learned that our falls don’t define us, but rather how we get up, accept responsibility and earn redemption.”
As rare as it is for a politician to admit in a campaign ad that he failed his family, it was released just three days after Vitter’s opponent, State Rep. John Bel Edwards‘ (D) campaign came out with an ad spot in which a narrator’s voice says, “David Vitter chose prostitutes over patriots.”
After highlighting Edwards’ military service, the narrator says Vitter “answered a prostitute’s call minutes after he skipped a vote honoring 28 soldiers who gave their lives in defense of our freedom.”
Vitter was able to move past the scandal and eventually won re-election to the Senate in 2010, but the issue has re-emerged in the gubernatorial campaign.
For their part, Vitter spokesman Luke Bolar told the Associated Press that the ad was not released in direct response to Edwards’, adding that the campaign had been planning to run it for “a while.”
Watch Vitter’s ad above, as well as Edwards’, both via YouTube.
[Image via screengrab]
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