GOP's Watts calls on DNC to pull ad

WASHINGTON, Oct. 12 (UPI) -- Former U.S. Republican Rep. J.C. Watts Tuesday asked the Democrats to pull an ad arguing blacks did not benefit from Bush administration policies.

"Instead of discussing the significant strides that our country has seen in regards to race, Democrats choose to falsely claim that African Americans have not benefited from President Bush's policies," Watts said. "Nothing could be further from the truth."

Watts, a black Republican, served in the U.S. House from 1994 to 2002. He said the Democrats "should be ashamed of themselves" for what he called their practice "of dividing this country in respect to race and spreading bold-face untruths is undignified for a presidential candidate."

"By spreading these rumors and endorsing this behavior, they demean the intelligence of black voters in particular and all Americans in general," Watts said.