The pace of ads in the Texas 17th Congressional District has been frenetic. In May, Edwards released the audio of Republican Bill Flores appearing to oppose federal loan guarantees for a $15 billion expansion of the Comanche Peak nuclear
power plant at a Feb. 20 Tea Party gathering.
Flores has denied his alleged opposition.
On Aug. 27, the Edwards campaign released "Back" -- which accuses Flores of lying about a vote he cast for Republican Rob Curnock in the 2008 general election.
Since Labor Day, each campaign has been blitzing the airwaves with television ad after television ad.
On Sept. 6, Rep. Edwards began running "Familiar," an ad claiming that "an oil company (Flores) helped run laid off over 3,000 workers and then paid off its top executives with million."
Flores' first ad "Where the Jobs Are" claimed that he "created 500 jobs" while in the private sector and this ad is a direct refutation of those businessman bona fides.
Politifact judged Edwards' claim to be false. See link below to story:
http://www.politifact.com/texas/statements/2010/sep/15/chet-edwards/chet-edwards-says-republican-challenger-bill-flore/
On Sept. 8, Flores brought out the lawyers. They sent a letter to Edwards demanding the ad be pulled threatening a defamation lawsuit. The spokeswoman for the Edwards campaign, Megan Jacobs, responded by calling the threat a "frivolous lawsuit" and refused to pull the ad.
The same day, the Flores campaign released "Slideshow" attempting to tie Edwards with President Obama, the Recovery Act of 2009 and the rising unemployment rate.
This week, Flores released "Silence" tying Edwards to House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi. The American Future Fund is running a similar ad on behalf of Flores' campaign claiming Edwards has voted with Pelosi "96 percent of the time."
Edwards began running "Stand" touting his votes against the health care reform bill and his endorsements from the conservative the Texas Farm Bureau AGFUND and the National Rifle Association Political Victory Fund.