“Perhaps the most powerful personal story belongs to Pennsylvania's Kathy Dahlkemper,” Karl intoned, pointing out “her father died of leukemia in February, and her mother died just two weeks ago, and now she finds herself among the undecided Democrats targeted by this ad.” Viewers then saw a very brief clip of an ad from Americans for Prosperity in which a woman maintained: “If you find a lump, you could wait months for treatment and life-saving drugs can be restricted.”
Karl relayed Dahlkemper's indignation: “She says the group that made the ad is wrong, and takes it personally.” In a soundbite, the freshman representing the Northwestern area of the Keystone State squeezed between Ohio and New York, decried: “So, for these ads to come out and somehow say that I'm soft on cancer, after having just lost two parents within the last six weeks from cancer, and with having the record I have really for supporting wellness, to me, is wrong.”
How dare citizens subject Members of Congress to political advocacy and arguments with which they disagree!
March 16 Dahlkemper press release: “After Dahlkemper loses her parents to cancer, tobacco front group launches attack.”
Erie Times-News posting of an AP dispatch from DC: “Dahlkemper says health care ad distorts and hurts.”
From the end of Karl's story on the Friday, March 19 World News on ABC:
WOMAN IN TV AD FROM 'HANDS OFF MY HEALTH CARE.COM': If you find a lump, you could wait months for treatment and life-saving drugs can be restricted.
KARL: She says the group that made the ad is wrong, and takes it personally.
KARL: Congresswoman Dahlkemper tells tonight she is still undecided but, Diane, even for those today who made up their mind, this is not over. They are under attack from one side or the other back home in their districts.
