We don’t know B.J. Lawson, the GOP candidate running against Rep. David Price in N.C.’s 4^th Congresisonal District. It’s pretty safe to say, though, that he’s either a lying sack or dumb as a sack (of hammers). Lawson ran a television ad, which his campaign paid a California company $4500 to produce, in which the narrator sounded sorta like Morgan Freeman. Yesterday, Lawson said the voice in his commercial was Freeman. By 5 p.m. yesterday, Freeman, a longtime Democrat, released a terse statement saying, "These people are lying. I have never recorded any campaign ads for B.J. Lawson, and I do not support his candidacy.”

Lawson’s campaign manager, Martin Avila, huffed and puffed and said yeah, well, the contract we signed said it was Morgan Freeman. The production company, MEI Political, slapped down Avila, saying the company had repeatedly explained to Lawson’s campaign that the ad would feature a “Morgan Freeman voice double,” not the famous actor.” O-kaaay, then, said Avila, “The Lawson campaign was shocked about what has happened and operated under the pretense that the ad was legitimate. Until today, we had no reason to believe the ad was not narrated by Morgan Freeman.” That’s right, said Lawson, “I was duped” by MEI into thinking it was really Morgan Freeman. Now, MEI has released a second, withering statement, and in all-caps, no less. Guess they’re really pissed.

IT WOULD GO AGAINST ALL COMMON SENSE FOR A CAMPAIGN TO TRULY BELIEVE THAT MR. FREEMAN, A DEMOCRAT, WOULD ENDORSE A LOCAL REPUBLICAN CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE WHOM HE HAD NEVER EVEN MET.  IF THE CAMPAIGN WANTS TO SAY THAT THEY MISUNDERSTOOD WHAT A 'VOICE DOUBLE' IS THEN THAT IS ONE THING, BUT IT IS HIGHLY INAPPROPRIATE FOR THEM TO PUBLICLY MISREPRESENT THIS AD (AGAINST OUR EXPLICIT ADVICE), AND THEN TRY TO THROW A CAMPAIGN SUPPORTER AND A LIFELONG REPUBLICAN UNDER THE BUS BY CLAIMING THAT THEY WERE SOMEHOW "DUPED" INTO THINKING THAT MORGAN FREEMAN, A MAN WHO GETS PAID $1 MILLION JUST TO RECORD A VISA COMMERCIAL, WAS SERIOUSLY GOING TO RECORD A RADIO SPOT FOR THEIR CAMPAIGN.

Here's the actual ad:

So, was Lawson really so stupid or naive that he would think Morgan Freeman was going to voice-over a campaign ad for 45 hundred bucks? Or did he just think he could get away with a lie? Either way, it’s a sad but, let's face it, funny commentary on the state of our electoral campaigns.

• "I was duped!" 4th District Congressional candidate B.J. Lawson