Absolutely True And Totally Misleading

A prime example of a fact starved of context. Arcuri is running against a buddy of his, New York state Senator Ray Meier. Ray has described the ad as "'way over the line.'" No matter. Makes no difference to the National Republican Congressional Committee. In fact, they didn't even ask Ray about running it. AP (10.21.06):

"A Democratic congressional candidate accused in a political ad of billing taxpayers for a call to a phone-sex line suggested he may have misdialed the number while trying to reach a state agency. The ad that began airing Friday shows Democrat Michael Arcuri leering at the silhouette of a dancing woman who says, 'Hi, sexy. You've reached the live, one-on-one fantasy line.'" Candidate May Have Misdialed Phone Sex

"But Arcuri's campaign released records showing the call two years ago from his New York City hotel room to the 800-number sex line was followed the next minute by a call to the state Department of Criminal Justice Services." "The last seven digits of the two numbers are the same." "The ad's sponsor, the National Republican Congressional Committee, stood by the 30-second message. Spokesman Ed Patru insisted it was 'totally true' and said Meier was not consulted." Like this example, it just goes to show ya what a bunch of two-bit pricks they have running the NRCC.