Gutknecht objects to AFL-CIO ads.
Marianne Combs, 9/6/96

Minnesota Congressman Gil Gutknecht says the AFL-CIO is broadcasting false and misleading ads about his voting record. The ads, which began airing yesterday (Thursday), attack Gutknecht's record on education. At issue is whether the ads take Gutknecht's voting record out of context, and whether they mar a supposedly "clean" campaign. Minnesota Public Radio's Marianne Combs has the details:

(open with ad)

The AFL-CIO ad is the second to attack Gutknecht's voting record - the first charged him with supporting legislation the union says allows employers to "raid" pension funds. The latest advertisement says Representative Gutknecht voted in favor of cutting college loans - Gutknecht calls the statement a bold-faced lie and is asking local media to pull the ad:

"Student loans will increase from 24.5 billion dollars to 36.4 billion dollars. Now how anyone in their right mind can say that that is a cut in student loans is beyond me." | TIME: 13 secs

Gutknecht DID vote in favor of a tax-slashing government-shrinking budget in May 1995 which proposed making student loans more expensive and also called for closing the Education Department. AFL-CIO state president Bernard Brommer says the attack on Gutknecht's voting record is accurate - he says while the tax dollars spent on college loans will increase, they won't match the increase in college costs. And Brommer says family incomes are remaining relatively steady. Brommer says Gutknecht's response is predictable:

"If I was him I would try and divert people's attention also from my votes on the Gingrich legislative agenda - I'd certainly do that too. That's an old dodge trying to get people to focus on something else - hopefully they wont pay attention to the votes you cast in public office." | TIME: 17 secs

Gutknecht says he's not trying to distract voters, he's simply trying to conduct a "clean campaign." Gutknecht has asked his democratic opponent, Mary Rieder, to sign a Clean Campaign code he authored, based heavily on the Minnesota Compact spear-headed by former congressman Tim Penny, Rieder's campaign chair. Rieder refused, stating she doesn't need to sign a contract to engage in a fair debate. Gutknecht's code would require Rieder to renounce any ad produced by a third party - like the AFL-CIO - that misled voters. According to Gutknecht, misleading attacks include taking a politicians voting record "out of context." Mary Rieder says the code is vague:

"Y'know we've never had it before so there's no track record, and who's going to determine whether or not the code has been violated? And number two are we going to spend the whole campaign arguing over whether ad A or ad B did or did not violate the code?" | TIME: 25 secs

Rieder says the AFL-CIO ad has nothing to do with her or her campaign - it IS about Gutknecht's relationship with labor. Last year the AFL-CIO and the Teamsters gave him a ZERO in performance ratings. Business groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce give him a 100% rating. In 1995, the National Education Association --a teacher's union-- gave Gutknecht a ZERO rating. That means that on votes they identified as key in their issue area during that time, Gutknecht NEVER voted with the group's position.

For Minnesota Public Radio, I'm Marianne Combs in Rochester.