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Heidi Heitkamp apologizes for campaign ad naming sexual assault victims without permission


Auburnfan91

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Washington (CNN) The women incorrectly identified as survivors of "domestic violence, sexual assault, or rape" in an open letter from Sen. Heidi Heitkamp's re-election campaign to her Republican opponent Rep. Kevin Cramer are "beyond furious," "confused" and "upset."

And now, days after the ad ran, they want answers.
 
"A lot of women's privacy was just thrown out there for the world to see," said Keeley Beck, a 24-year old from Bismarck, North Dakota who said she never gave consent to be included in the ad. "You don't really know what situation people are in, so that could have caused a lot of damage to a lot of people."
 
The Heitkamp campaign, looking to attack Cramer for suggesting "tough people" do not identify with the national conversation around sexual assault and the treatment of women, ran an open letter that slammed his comments and was signed by 127 women. Shortly after the letter published, women began to come forward to say they were either included without their permission or were not survivors of "domestic violence, sexual assault, or rape," as specified in the letter.
 
The blunder couldn't come at a worse time for the vulnerable Democratic senator, who is running for re-election in a state that President Donald Trump won by 36 percentage points in 2016. It's less than three weeks before Election Day and Heitkamp is not talking about trade, health care or taxes, but instead is blanketing North Dakota media with emotional interviews taking responsibility and looking to redirect questions about how this will impact her political future. Right now, that future looks bleak: Recent polls, including those before this controversy, have found Cramer with a sizable lead over Heitkamp.
 
"I don't think anyone is perfect in the world and sometimes when you are on a big stage you can make big mistakes," she said on Tuesday. "And I think our campaign made a big mistake and we need to own it and we need to fix it."
 
While the senator has said the buck stops with her, the campaign staffer who was in charge of putting together the open letter is no longer with the campaign, according to Julia Krieger, a spokeswoman for re-election bid. Krieger did not provide the name of the staffer and would not say whether the staffer was fired or resigned.

read all of the article at: https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/17/politics/heitkamp-abuse-survivors-answers/index.html

Wow, what a major screw up.

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2 minutes ago, Auburnfan91 said:

read all of the article at: https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/17/politics/heitkamp-abuse-survivors-answers/index.html

Wow, what a major screw up.

Yeah that’s bad.

She’s about to lose her seat anyway. 

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