September 28, 2010 02:19 AM UTC

Tancredo Swipes GOP's Ad

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• by: Colorado Pols

TUESDAY UDPATE: Fox 31’s Eli Stokols:

[I]n an ironic twist, Tancredo is suddenly taking a page out of McInnis’s playbook.

At least the longtime GOP congressman has learned how to cite his sources.

In the new ad, which features edited clips from the original RGA ad, Tancredo sources it this way: “edited RGA video from public domain.”

The ad, which attacks John Hickenlooper for “raising taxes, killing jobs”, is a clever way to go after the Democratic front runner while also rubbing a little salt in the wounds of an embattled Maes, who now can add the indignity of seeing the RGA’s ad working to benefit his opponent to the indignity of the group’s standing refusal to spend money on his own behalf.

There’s just one thing: it might be illegal.

Tancredo’s campaign has not returned phone calls from FOX 31 to explain how the footage was acquired by the campaign, leaving election attorneys to wonder if both parties followed the rules…

Check out American Constitution Party candidate Tom Tancredo’s new ad–look familar?

That’s right, folks, Tancredo has actually taken footage from the Republican Governor’s Association ad against Democrat John Hickenlooper from earlier this year (back when the RGA was still playing in Colorado), slapped “public domain” on it, and repurposed it for his own.

UPDATED: it’s been suggested to us that there are two legal issues potentially involved here: any copyright asserted by the RGA over the ad, which Tancredo’s campaign attempts to deal with by tagging the footage as “public domain.” But there is also the possible campaign finance issue, you could make a case that this is an in-kind donation by a 527 (which the RGA technically is) to a gubernatorial campaign. After all, the RGA’s ad cost money to produce, didn’t it? We’re not campaign finance law experts, and it’s even harder when you can’t remember anything quite like this having happened before.

Assuming the footage in question really is in the public domain and legally kosher, will the RGA at least say something about it being used by a third-party candidate, as opposed to the actual Republican nominee Dan Maes–who doesn’t have money for his own TV spots?

Or do you suppose they’re cool?