4.6 • 982 Ratings
🗓️ 28 October 2021
⏱️ 16 minutes
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It’s October 27th. This day in 2008, an ad endorsed by Elizabeth Dole is running in North Carolina accusing Senate candidate Kay Hagan of being a “godless American.”
Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss how the ad was deceptively edited, why it created such a backlash, and why the charge of “Godlessness” is so stick in American politics.
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0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to this day in esoteric political history from Radiotopia. |
0:08.0 | My name is Jody Avergan. |
0:10.0 | This day, October 28th, 2008, an ad begins running in North Carolina as part of the very contentious |
0:18.6 | Senate race in that state. |
0:21.6 | This topic was suggested by a listener William from North Carolina, and I'm just going to read from their note because it really sets it up nicely. So William writes us, in an episode a few weeks ago, you mentioned dirty mudslinging elections. I live in North Carolina and boy do we throw mud. |
0:35.2 | Specifically in 2008 with Kay Hagen versus Elizabeth Dole for Senate. |
0:39.8 | Late October is when the quote Godless Americans ad first aired across North |
0:44.6 | Carolina the ad called State Senator Kayegan a godless American and made so many |
0:49.8 | wild accusations this is a practice many on the religious right like to |
0:54.1 | pull calling well-involved Christian politicians Godless instead of liberal. They did it |
0:59.1 | to Hagen and they did it to Carter in 1980. So that's a little bit of Williams note and a little bit of Williams |
1:04.7 | take there at the end about the larger dynamic. But the facts are, as William laid out, there was |
1:09.8 | a Senate election incumbent Republican Elizabeth Dole runs this very |
1:14.0 | controversial ad against her opponent state Senator Kayegan. So let's talk |
1:18.7 | about that ad that race and the charge of godlessness in American politics here to do that as always are |
1:25.2 | Nicole Hammer of Columbia and Kelly Carter Jackson of Wesley. Hello there |
1:28.7 | Hello Jody. Hey there. So since we're talking about an ad, we never do this, we play clips, but you know what, |
1:37.0 | this is about an ad and I think it's worth playing the clip here and so we'll, well, let's take a listen. |
1:41.6 | There was a longer version of this ad and then there was a |
1:44.0 | 32nd version of this ad. So this is the 32nd version of the Godless Americans ad that |
1:48.8 | started running in 2008 in North Carolina right around this day. |
1:52.3 | I'm Elizabeth Dole and I appreciate that. in North Carolina right around this day. |
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