Gavel Grab

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Ad Quote: “Probation for a terrorist sympathizer? We’re at war with terrorists.”

With just a few days to go before the election, 57 percent of Michigan voters still are undecided in the state Supreme Court election, despite massive spending on increasingly negative television ads.

The poll, conducted by Epic/MRA for Michigan TV stations, said that Democratic challenger Diane Hathaway, who badly trails incumbent Chief Justice Cliff Taylor in fund-raising, leads by 22 to 21 percent. The huge undecided vote echoes a survey last week that showed that 61 percent of Michigan voters hadn’t made up their minds.

According to an Associated Press report, a new ad by the state Republican Party accuses Hathaway of giving probation to a “terrorist sympathizer” who was armed and wearing combat fatigues when arrested.

Spending on TV is way up, especially by Taylor and groups backing him, according to the newest “Buying Time 2008″ report by the Brennan Center for Justice:

Taylor and the Michigan Chamber of Commerce spent a combined $1,098,330 in the two week period ending October 24 on television advertising supporting Taylor’s re-election. That sum amounted to more than four times the amount spent during that period supporting his opponent, Judge Diane Hathaway.

Ads on both sides have been harshly negative, especially by independent groups. A Michigan Chamber of Commerce ad suggests that Hathaway gave a low sentence to a sex predator. Three ads by the Michigan Democratic Party rip Chief Justice Taylor’s competence and fairness. One ad sarcastically calls Taylor a “good soldier” and urges voters to “thank him” for preventing lawsuits against companies by women harassed and raped in the workplace.

The ads are available at the Brennan Center site.