State of Michigan secondary Archives: on Principles & Values

Debbie Stabenow: AdWatch: criticized for spending funds borrowed from China

The ad is for Stabenow's rival, former congressman and current Senatorial candidate Pete Hoekstra. Hoekstra visited America Live Monday afternoon to address claims that his ad is inappropriate and plays on racially-charged stereotypes that, as one group put it, "encourage anti-Asian sentiment."

"The only group of people that this ad is anti" Hoekstra said, "it's anti-Debbie Stabenow, it's anti-Barack Obama, the spending policies of the liberal left."

Peter Hoekstra: AdWatch: It's not racist to note that US funds help China

Hoekstra addressed claims that his ad is inappropriate and plays on racially-charged stereotypes: "The only group of people that this ad is anti" Hoekstra said, "it's anti-Debbie Stabenow, it's anti-Barack Obama, the spending policies of the liberal left."

"You'll notice that the ad," he continued, "points to the opportunities that America's dumb economic policies--deficit spending, trillion dollars of deficits & debt--it creates the opportunities for counties like China and others to take advantage of our weakness."

When asked about the young woman speaking broken English, Hoekstra responded, "it's not a stereotype at all. This is a young woman in China who is speaking English. That's quite an achievement."