Cassis Rolls Out New TV Ad Accusing Bentivolio of Being 9/11 Conspiracy Theorist

Republican congressional candidate Nancy Cassis's campaign staff has been busy preparing for its upcoming elections for a U.S. House of Representatives seat representing Michigan's 11th District.

The newly drawn 11th District includes the city of Farmington. 

Cassis, a Novi resident, seeks to replace Thaddeus McCotter . She will participate in the in September to temporarily fill his seat until it ends in January 2013. She will be running against four other Republicans: Steve King, Kenneth Crider and Carolyn Cavanagh. There is one Democrat running: David Curson. That election, for the current 11th District seat, will not include Farmington. 

Farmington voters will participate in the 11th Congressional Aug. 7 primary, when Cassis will run as a against Kerry Bentivolio - the only Republican on the ticket. The winner will face off in the November general election against the winner of the Democratic primary, which will either be or of Canton.

Today, the Cassis campaign debuted a new TV attack ad that accuses her opponent Bentivolio of Milford, the only Republican to appear on the ballot for the 11th Congressional District seat, of being a 9/11 conspiracy theorist. It's a charge that Bentivolio's campaign manager finds upsetting.

The Cassis ad narrator says, "The Free Press reports Kerry Bentivolio starred in a movie accusing President Bush and Vice President Cheney of ordering the 9/11 terrorist attack on America. It's sickening. Bentivolio's movie accuses America of plotting the murder of thousands."

The Cassis campaign has dubbed him "Krazy Kerry."

"I am disturbed that my opponent would have the poor judgment to involve himself with a liberal film that seeks to cast the blame for the September 11th terrorist attacks on the President and Vice President of the United States,” said Cassis in a press release about the ad. “We need a principled conservative in Congress that we can trust to fight the liberal agenda, not lock arms with extremists.”

Cassis campaign manager David Mroz added, “Krazy Kerry’s astonishing lack of judgment is why he cannot be trusted to fight for us in Congress. We already know that he supports amnesty and bankrupted his business, but now we learn he took a starring role in an extremist independent film, what is Krazy Kerry thinking?”

Bob Dindoffer, Bentivoilio's camapign manager, said the ad is outrageous.

"It’s not true and how dare she. The man went to war in 2007. How dare she," he said. "He’s a patriotic veteran of two foreign wars. He’s one of the more highly decorated members of the Michigan Army National Guard."

When asked about the video Bentivolio appeared in, which Cassis's ad draws attention to, Dindoffer said it was a spoof video taken out of context by her campaign. He also said the personal attacks deflect the focus from her record and the issues.

"It’s been a constant barrage of attacks," Dindoffer said of Cassis's campaign. "This is the dirtiest campaign I’ve ever seen."

New jingle says vote for Cassis

In addition to the TV ad announced today, the Cassis campaign has also unveiled a new jingle to remind voters of how to spell her name as a write-in candidate.

"Nothing fancy, write in Nancy. Nancy Cassis," the narrator says. The 16-second ad posted to YouTube spells out her name.

Mroz said the campaign plans to run the ad on television and radio.

Dindoffer added of the jingle, which also recently debuted, "I'm glad she's running an ad that’s not negative about our candidate."

The most recent campaign to use a widely publicized jingle for a write in candidate was successful for current Alaska senator Lisa Murkowski, also a Republican.