PHOENIX (By Richard Ruelas, Arizona Republic) October 23, 2006 — The ad for Sen. Jon Kyl that featured a sextet of Arizona sheriffs was so effective that it is still running on the radio and its visuals are still being used in new television spots. Kyl recently called the ad "the biggest thing we've ever done." Even though, to make the ad's main point, Kyl's campaign had to make a huge leap in logic, one that might not have been effectively understood by all of the sheriffs involved.

The ad, called "Sheriffs," ran everywhere when it debuted a month ago. In it, six current and retired sheriffs say they support Kyl over Democratic challenger Jim Pederson because "Jim Pederson supported amnesty."

But two of the sheriffs in the commercial said in interviews that they did not completely understand, or remembered being told, of the source of the claim about Pederson.

The notion that Pederson supported amnesty comes from a single word he uttered during a KTAR radio interview in April.

In the broadcast, Pederson said this:

"The last effective measure that passed Congress was in 1986, 20 years ago, and people like Senator Kyl have sat back there and done nothing."

The Kyl campaign seized on the word "effective."

"Clearly, he was saying the law was effective," said Andy Chasin, a Kyl spokesman, "and what everybody knows about that law is that it granted amnesty."

Chasin said that, in this context, calling the law effective translates into support.

But if that cold logic were applied to Kyl, he would come off like a champion of legalized marijuana and higher taxes.

Kyl, in a 1992 op-ed column in The Republic, called special interests "effective" at pushing spending programs that raise taxes. That must mean he supports higher taxes.

Similarly, in 1996, Kyl called the campaign against a medical marijuana initiative ineffective. Logically, that would mean he did not support it. Ergo, Kyl wants pot legalized.

Both are gross distortions of Kyl's positions, equal to his twisting of Pederson's words.

Yet it appears that Kyl did not give the sheriffs the chance to judge his logic. Chasin, his spokesman, said all six sheriffs were told exactly what Pederson said and when he said it. But the two sheriffs who returned calls didn't remember it that way.

Yuma County Sheriff Ralph Ogden said he didn't recall being told that Pederson's quotes came from a 2006 radio interview. He said he thought Pederson talked about supporting amnesty in 1986. "He was just one of those that kept saying, 'This is a great thing,' back then," Ogden said. "I don't know whether he's changed his position."

Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever said he didn't remember much discussion of Pederson's position before the shoot, and he didn't pay much attention to it anyway because he knew he supported Kyl.

"I had no reason to think that what he said wasn't correct," Dever said, adding philosophically, "Truth is as one defines it."

Especially in a campaign season when a sentence that slammed Kyl for ineffectiveness on immigration legislation becomes support for amnesty. And some sheriffs are duped into playing along.

Turns out the most damning statement in the ad comes from Kyl himself:

"I'm Jon Kyl, and I approved this important message."