Voters get 9/11 reprieve from political ads

Several candidates pull commercials out of respect

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updated 3:05 p.m. ET Sept. 8, 2006

WASHINGTON - Voters weary of campaign advertising will get a reprieve Monday in the political equivalent of a moment of silence.

Several candidates say they are pulling their campaign ads for the day to mark the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

In Pennsylvania, where Republican Sen. Rick Santorum and Democrat Bob Casey have filled the airwaves in one of the nation's most competitive races, both said Thursday they are pulling down their commercials for the day.

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Respect over politics
Casey "thinks it is a day for remembrance and not for politicking," said Larry Smar, a campaign spokesman.

Santorum's campaign press secretary expressed a similar sentiment.

"We had always planned to be dark that day," said Virginia Davis. "We knew it would be disrespectful to run ads that day. We had never even placed a buy."

Indiana's Joe Donnelly, Ron Klein in Florida, Mike Arcuri in New York and Patrick Murphy in Pennsylvania are among the Democratic congressional candidates also pulling their TV ads, said Jen Psaki, a spokeswoman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

More to come?
Jon Tester, the Democrat challenging Republican Sen. Conrad Burns in Montana, also was taking his ad down on Monday.
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"I'm sure there will be more," Psaki said.

Spokesmen for the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee said they are leaving the decision to the campaigns to determine whether to run ads on Monday.

"My guess is that most of them will be dark on 9/11, but I haven't polled them all to see where they are at," said Ed Patru, an NRCC spokesmen.