Written by Juliana Simone

With the state primary day being only four days away, campaign ads for federal office seats are flying.

Candidates from both parties are buying major radio and television time to broadcast their message before voters go to the polls on Tuesday. Some would call it mudslinging and others would call it informing the public, but either way people need to discern fact from fiction. Because of legalities, most assertions in these advertisements would not be aired without some background that would be usable in court if it came to this, but bending the truth is common, and what may save a campaign from libel in terms of technicalities still is far from factual.

Keeping this in mind, voters should take the time to research and fact check on the Internet if they have any questions about a candidate. In 2010, mass mailings from certain candidates made all kinds of false claims by twisting the truth. 2012 is proving no different from state seats all the way up to the Oval Office. Ideally, American citizens should be able to vote on a person running for office with no doubts about transparency or personal history. One’s record should be what it is – without secrets or hidden realities under lock and key so a candidate can perpetuate a false image to the public.

Ameriborn News wants to note some of the aspersions and claims that are on the airwaves here in Connecticut right now. The U.S. Senate race is similar to what it was two years ago in the GOP, with the same party endorsed candidate with no political resume, World Wrestling Entertainment co-founder Linda McMahon, attacking her challenger former Congressman Christopher Shays that has earned a large portfolio in state and federal politics, with the same focus on a couple of arguably bad votes out of thousands and the moniker of ‘career politician’ being heinous as she did in 2010 against veteran Rob Simmons.

On the Democrat Party’s side, the party endorsed congressman Chris Murphy has to address attacks from a former constitutional state officer, Susan Bysiewicz, who failed to qualify for the Attorney General’s office she sought in 2010. The U.S. Representative seems to be secure enough in his perceived win on Tuesday to not spend much of his budget contradicting his opponent’s claims even though she has reminded voters of his original campaign pledges in 2006 that took out veteran Republican Congresswoman Nancy Johnson in terms of campaign funding that she argues he now mirrors.

In the most newsworthy Congressional race in Connecticut’s fifth district, the Republican candidates are hitting the ground swinging. Party endorsed frontrunner veteran State Senator Andrew Roraback (R-30) defines he is the only candidate of the four seeking this nomination on the 14^th that has ever been elected to anything. He has also made it clear in debates and appearances that his challenger Lisa Wilson Foley should not even be considered since her campaign is under federal investigation like Democrat nominee Donovan’s. In a press conference yesterday held outside of the Democrat state party’s headquarters, Roraback addressed the claims opponents ads were making he was for raising taxes by citing a laundry list of taxes he’s voted against in his almost twenty years of public service in the state legislature.

Challenger Mark Greenberg, a businessman who resides in Litchfield, primarily a self-funded candidate, has bought the most media time pre-Primary to what sources say cost six hundred thousand dollars. The conservative Republican running a second time after petitioning his way on to the primary ballot in 2010 shows ads that portray Roraback as someone who will raise taxes if elected. In regards to challenger businesswoman Lisa Wilson Foley, Greenberg’s ads point out she was once a registered Democrat and wrote thousands of dollars of donation checks to Democrat legislators.

If negative ads are going to set the course, Foley answered today with her own commercial on Greenberg that states he has over one hundred tax liens that include one on his home for six hundred thousand dollars. Ameriborn News contacted the Greenberg campaign for a response to this claim but after being directed to their press spokesman no return call was made. {Editor’s note: Greenberg liaison Chris Cooper later got back to Ameriborn News and refuted these allegations.}

The one candidate not mentioned in these spots by rivals is Justin Bernier, who like Greenberg, also ran in 2010. The Afghanistan veteran, former Congressional staff member and Governor Rell appointee has been left out of the fray because sources say other campaigns don’t see him as a threat despite his strength in foreign policy and economics. At the Republican State Convention in May, Bernier dropped out second after Greenberg. Roraback then won the party nomination after beating Foley in three heated rounds. Greenberg gave Roraback his delegate votes because his campaign considered Roraback the easiest to beat on Primary Day due to his moderate reputation.

Ameriborn News Network believes it’s too close to call heading into primary Tuesday. It’s a well quartered pie with each of the four candidates having their share of supporters. A district that is made up of forty one towns, they all have claim to an equal portion of them. The outcome will traditionally rely on voter turnout and none of the candidates seem to be likely to win by a large percentage.

On the Democrat side, party nominee but tarnished House Speaker Christopher Donovan can still rely on union votes to hopefully put him over the top despite many arrests within his campaign that remain under federal investigation. Former one term state representative Elizabeth Esty, as noted first here in Ameriborn News, is the best choice for the Democrat party to endorse as their nominee on Tuesday. The New York Times and a variety of Connecticut newspaper editorial boards agree. Newcomer Dan Roberti as the son of a Washington lobbyist goes into this race with a bad label but is still a better choice than corrupt Donovan even with little resume. Ameriborn News must at least give him credit for speaking up on Connecticut’s CBS affiliate Sunday morning show with host Dennis House that yes, Donovan should drop out due to the investigation, where Esty refused to answer the hosts repetitive questions and kept reverting to simple campaign talking points. Anyone unwilling to answer simple questions with obvious answers is always a concern in regards to someone seeking public office.