McKenna's TV work draws Democrats ire

Democrats have filed a complaint with state-election watchdogs alleging that TV public-service announcements featuring Attorney General Rob McKenna are improper election advertisements for McKenna's re-election campaign.

McKenna, a Republican seeking a second term this year, calls the complaint "ridiculous" and hypocritical. He notes that Gov. Christine Gregoire has appeared in similar public-service announcements.

"The bottom line is no law has been violated," McKenna said.

At issue are three public-service announcements, or PSAs, that showcase McKenna. None of them was made with public money.

One ad was sponsored by BECU, the credit union, and warns about identity theft, while another was paid for by the liquor industry and discourages drunken driving. The third PSA is about Internet safety and was produced by the National Cable and Telecommunications Association.

The Internet-safety ad, still airing on Comcast cable-TV stations around the state, is expected to end in September, said Comcast spokesman Steve Kipp.

In its complaint to the state Public Disclosure Commission (PDC), the state Democratic Party claims the ads violate several election rules: They use McKenna's office or title to assist his campaign; they have a value that exceeds the state's $1,600 limit on campaign contributions; and, most important, they aren't public-service announcements as defined by state law.

That law says a candidate must arrange to appear in a PSA at least six months before launching a campaign. If not, the ad likely would be considered an election message and should be reported as a campaign contribution.

McKenna said he agreed to appear in the ads in 2005 or 2006 — his staff hasn't pinpointed the exact dates yet — long before he announced his re-election campaign last November.

The complaint doesn't specify any dates and says only that it's "reasonable to assume" the ads were not arranged more than six months before McKenna declared his candidacy.

The debate falls into a gray area, said Kathleen Hall Jamieson, an expert on political communication and director of the Annenberg Center for Public Policy of the University of Pennsylvania.

Jamieson said such ads help create a good impression of candidates and are essentially contributions to their campaigns. But, she said, it's reasonable for elected officials to appear in such ads.

"The question," she said, "becomes when does the campaign season actually begin?"

Washington state law is not completely clear on that, said Lori Anderson, a spokeswoman for the PDC. Anderson said the commission staff will review rules to see how the start of a campaign is defined.

McKenna's Democratic opponent, John Ladenburg, has proposed a ban on all appearances by elected officials in PSAs during an election year. Ladenburg, the Pierce County executive, said he has appeared in Comcast public-service announcements that wish viewers happy holidays.

Kipp, the Comcast spokesman, said the cable company also has done PSAs with former Gov. Gary Locke about the environment and education, and with Gregoire's husband, Mike, about the hiring of veterans.

Republican Party state Chairman Luke Esser lashed out at Democrats and Ladenburg, saying they are "so desperate to shock Ladenburg's faltering campaign back to life that they don't mind serving up a huge helping of hypocrisy with their trumped-up charges."

Bob Young: 206-464-2174 or byoung@seattletimes.com