Did Southern Poverty Law Center Slander FRC?

The Family Research Council (FRC) ran a full-page open letter advertisement in print editions of Politico and of the Washington Examiner on Wednesday calling for a “civil debate” with the Southern Poverty Law Center, the liberal group that labeled the FRC and other social conservative organizations as “hate groups” in early December.

Among the 150 influential conservative leaders who signed on to the FRC’s open letter are Minnesota Congresswoman

Michele Bachmann, South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, soon-to-be House Speaker John Boehner, soon-to-be House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty and Indiana Congressman Mike Pence. The open letter calls for the SPLC to “start debating” and “stop hating.” FRC President Tony Perkins told The Daily Caller he had to cut names from the list to fit them all on the advertisement.