WASHINGTON
Hampton Roads voters, particularly veterans, are being targeted by a pair of television ad campaigns designed to rekindle the national debate over the future of the U.S. mission in Iraq.
Vets for Freedom, a 2-year-old group that claims membership of 25,000 veterans nationwide, on Wednesday launched a five-state, $1.5 million ad effort that attacks the positions taken by Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama on the Iraq war. It argues that the next president should "finish the job" in Iraq.
The AFL-CIO, the organized labor powerhouse that has been a player in national political campaigns for decades, said Wednesday it will begin airing an ad in Virginia and five other states today that attacks Republican candidate Sen. John McCain's support for the Bush administration's war policies.
The 30-second television spot produced by Vets for Freedom is the forerunner of what the group expects to be a national campaign that will cost in excess of $10 million, said Pete Hegseth, the group's chairman.
Most of the effort, including promotions on talk-radio programs, mailings and grassroots organizing, will be focused in 12 states, Hegseth said, particularly areas with large numbers of veterans.
In Virginia, the group's current ad is running in Hampton Roads and the Washington suburbs. The group is spending only $76,000 on air time in the state.
Vets for Freedom's efforts are being fueled by donations from thousands of people nationwide, Hegseth said. He said the group will not release donors' names nor the size of their donations. The group is registered under a section of federal tax law that allows it to advertise and organize on behalf of particular policies while maintaining the confidentiality of its donors.
Donations to political campaigns or political action committees, by contrast, generally must be reported and are limited by law.
"I don't want to have to print out names of thousands of Americans for everyone to dish through.... We've been very straightforward with our donors - that if they give, their names aren't disclosed," Hegseth said.
Steve Weissman, associate director of the Campaign Finance Institute at George Washington University, said a growing number of issue activists are using the tax provision to shield their donors.
The groups risk losing their tax-exempt status if they engage in advocacy on behalf of or against a specific candidate, Weissman said. But if the groups direct their advocacy to particular policies, donors "can influence an election without anyone knowing who is doing it."
Groups including Planned Parenthood and the National Rifle Association have used the tax provision for years, Weissman said.
The new Vets for Freedom commercial does not mention any candidate, but its upbeat view of the security situation in Iraq closely tracks that of Republicans such as U.S. Rep. Thelma Drake of Norfolk, who is being challenged this fall by Democrat Glenn Nye.
The commercial features veterans proclaiming the success of the troop surge into Iraq that began last year.
"Casualties are at an all-time low. Al-Qaida in Iraq is decimated.... We changed strategy in Iraq and the surge worked. Now that's change we can believe in," the vets argue.
The ad's punch line is an echo of Obama's campaign slogan. Its use seems likely to rekindle questions about Vets for Freedom's connections to the McCain campaign.
While Hegseth stressed the group's non partisanship and noted that its political action arm has endorsed several Democrats, he has acknowledged in the past that it's pro-surge views parallel McCain's.
Vets for Freedom also operates a political action committee that attacked Obama directly this spring over his failure to visit Iraq since January 2006, before the surge began.
Obama opposed the surge and has promised to withdraw U.S. forces from Iraq within 16 months of his election. Hegseth stressed repeatedly Wednesday that Vets for Freedom opposes such timelines.
Two of McCain's most prominent supporters and occasional surrogates, Sens. Joe Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut, and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., gave up positions on Vets for Freedom's advisory board last month because their involvement violated the McCain campaign's conflict-of-interest guidelines.
While the Vets for Freedom ads avoid mentioning Obama, the AFL-CIO, which operates under different legal restrictions, has endorsed the Democrat and goes after McCain aggressively in its new commercial. The union has pledged to spend up to $50 million to aid Obama.
"Every vet respects John McCain's war record," Navy vet Jim Wasser says in the ad. "It's his record in the Senate that I have a problem with."
Dale Eisman, (703) 913-9872, dale.eisman@pilotonline.com
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I take back what I said
about the pilot getting it right...while the original title of the article may not have captured the nuances of the resons for the commercial, to change the title of the article in an obvious bow to pressure after it was posted is rather cowardly. If you're wrong then print a retraction but otherwise stand by what you said and what some people leaped to defend.
RE: I'll tell you
"We need to fight the terrorists on a battlefield we set, we can't let them chose where to fight, so we picked Iraq to bring them together to eliminate them in one place."
I think that's a total pipe dream, and therefore we let Bin Ladden get away with mass murder??????? WOW! What a plan Bush had!
I'll tell you
Saddam kept Iran in check? I think the US was pulling the strings of the Iraq puppet, in response to the hostage situation. By going through Iraq it looked a lot better than the US invading Iran. After we left, Saddam got a little arrogant and tried to work on his own(Kuwait). The US was disappointed by his actions and stopped him.
We need to fight the terrorists on a battlefield we set, we can't let them chose where to fight, so we picked Iraq to bring them together to eliminate them in one place.
North Korea will do nothing without an ok from China.
clarification
Actually, Saddam stoked religious fervor in Iraq in 1990 to turn the Gulf War into a jihad - he put "Allah Akbar" on the Iraqi flag in '91 (in his own handwriting, no less). He started the movement away from secularism and it caused him a lot of internal problems. Are there terrorists there, you ask? What do you call people who bomb mosques, markets and job centers with nary an American in sight? Attacking American soldiers could be defended as patriotic, but their fellow citizens? And contrary to popular opinion it isn't because of religious reasons, per se. Sunnis attack Shi'a and vice versa for political / power reasons, not because they have different views on Islamic succession.
As for NK? If by "messing with them" you mean military action, it is precisely because they already have nukes and missiles that can hit Japan that we don't.
Notice Headline Changed?
I noticed the "Pro-war" banner is gone from this article...
Saddam might have been a dictator...but...
he kept Iran occupied in a stalemate and he kept Iraq secular. Now, it's well on its way to becoming another Iran. Further, there weren't terrorists (and are there terrorists there really?) until after we went in there and they started flooding over the border to "help" their brothers fight the "infidel".
The 9/11 terrorists were overwhelmingly from Saudi. Many of the Taliban were educated in Saudi-financed madrassas in Pakistan.
We did the right thing by going after them in Afghanistan...but Iraq? We were sold a bill of goods.
As for NK? They have a nuclear program and they fire off test missiles at will that could easily hit Japan. Their dictator is a nut job and their people are starving. While they are influenced by China, they are a loose cannon and a destabilizing force in the region. But...we don't mess with them. Why?
Facts? Let's talk facts.
dano65: Fact: The National Debt is now at $9,495,420,401,638.92 Every person (citizen) in these United States would have to pay $31,200.69 to pay it off. Most of it is owed to foreign countries, like China, whom we borrowed it from. Fact: Abu Duabi recently bought the Chrysler Building in New York. Apparently it was up for sale pretty cheap, since the dollar is so weak and all.
Fact: It's been SEVEN YEARS since this war started. I think it's about time Iraq takes care of Iraq. We train our troops in what? 8 week boot camp? Then some schooling after? Just how long does it take THEM to get trained? Of course the rampant coruption in their government, military, etc could be the problem. And that is a part of their culture. Don't see it going away anytime soon. I would rather stop paying for it. I agreed with going into Afghanistan. We should STILL be concentrating on that country since the terrorists se
Who to vote for???
This will be a difficult decision because I don't like either candidate. The hot-head McCain is just like Bush and Obama can't possibly make all the changes he thinks he can, and there is something about him that I just don't trust. While I don't like McCain at least I KNOW he's a jerk. Obama, scares the heck out of me.
Censored
Wow, I must have hurt someone’s feelings. My "Objectivity" post has been removed. I don't know why. It stayed within the posting guidelines for the post. I did not insult anyone (directly) and it was on topic (one sentence).
I did notice that the article has changed and the AFL-CIO is conducting their direct attack against McCain. At lease the Vets For Freedom had a message that was directed to “no matter who is the next president".
The Vets for Freedom ad was NOT an attack ad. The AFL-CIO promises theirs will be.
The Vets for Freedom used real people that are/have been involved in real world contingencies.
The AFL-CIO will most likely use actors that are willing to spew lies and deceit.
I definitely believe these real heroes in the Vets for Freedom ad over the typical blather from AFL-CIO.
"after he realized that he wasn't smart enough..."
Really objective there, phrog. 1987 was before 2001 so it has nothing to do with the book in question. Webb became a democrat about 2006 so when did you complain about your "blatant pedophilia"? So far you have only shown that it bothers you only after he became a democrat but it did not bother you when he was a republican.
Elsie
N. Korea is different. "Terrorists" are not based in N. Korea. Besides N. Korea is a puppet for China anyway. N. Korea will not do anything with out an ok from China. G "W" Bush vowed to hunt down the "terrorists" wherever they hide. We flushed them out of Afghanastan and instead of letting them regroup in various places, we picked the battlefield of Iraq. Saddam was a loose cannon and a brutal dictator, with no real allies. So there was not a huge uproar about removing him from power.
About that one track mind!
"But, then, that is all libs can do. Just throw out the same chewed up garbage day after day."
Looks who's talking!
objective, phrog?
How come you were 'objective' about your topic of "blatant pedophilia" only after Webb became a democrat but not while he was a republican?
Just asking?
"This was the dictator that had invaded its neighbor; agreed to abide by a peace agreement but challenged the "no fly" zone and reneged numerous times on inspections by the United Nations. This all went on for a number of years (under Clinton) with the UN wringing its hands and doing nothing to hold him accountable. When no one else would stand up to the bully we did. Unless we hold these people accountable they will continue to see how much they can get away with. And don't use the weapons of mass distruction arguement--if they had nothing to hide then why wouldn't they let the inspectors in?"
We could have finished the job under "Bush I" with the world's support. We didn't. Then we go in using an argument that could describe North Korea...but we aren't we messing with them. Don't get me wrong...I totally support our troops...my husband is retired military, so is my brother, my father served, two uncles served, and I still have family serving, with one of them just coming back from Iraq. I just feel we went in there for the wrong reasons...Bush II's arrogance.
Way to go traveler
Cute comment. It demonstrates the lack of substance in your argument. And to answer your bet, I opted not to go into the service, and did live with my mother for years. Approximately 18. She is a wonderful lady.
Not just Bin Laden
We need to continue to fight the "terrosrists" where ever they are, for as long as it takes. Sadly millions of people are brainwashed everyday into thinking that America is bad. They hide behind a "religion". If someone hears the same thing over and over they will soon believe it to be fact. Whether it is "prayer" 5 times a time, "global warming", "bush is bad", CJackCity is great, whatever it is . . say it enough and you will belive. Now everyone with me - CJackCity is great, CJackCity is great,CJackCity is great . . .
globalization
markk, very good point. I agree with about 90 percent. But I don't think the United States of America will be "owned". But in the agenda for globalization and a unified global government, the USA, as we know it, will be dissolved and absorbed into the one world union. The EU is the foundation. The move toward a North American Union, or American Union, will strengthen the foothold of a centralized global power. All indicators are pointing in that direction. Economic, social, and political.
People are going to believe what they want to believe
People are going to believe what they want to believe and call anything that different from their point of view 'propaganda' and 'lies.' Somewhere between the two points of view, most likely, is the truth. At this point, our country is being funded on loans taken out in other countries, some of them, like China, that are not that friendly to us. The war in Iraq is a major economic drain on America, and on top of that, we have companies such as Halliburton that run up costs and expenses that no one can prove - and yet our government continues to pay them. Like I said before: China and our other enemies will own America soon enough because of our blind actions.
No fan of bush either, but...
Keith, I am NOT defending Bush. Yes, his decisions in recent years have made things a big mess. Yes, he has a very shady past and questionable character flaws. Yes, I could probably somewhat agree with about half of your rants. But, what good does it do to just sit around and blame everything on GWB? Absolutely nothing.
I just can’t stand that you and others like you only get your information from the spin media and your thoughts are exactly what the media tells you to think.
Objectivity is hearing what the media or someone has to say, then probing deeper into the motivation of why the particular point is made. It is plain and obvious that there are many media outlets whose only objective is to steer public opinion. They prey on the weak minded. They know that those who are weak minded are easily swayed and will stand firm on what the media tells them.
re: objectivity?
I thought Air America was gone (at least in this area).
Now what is that quote that says something about opening one's mouth and removing all doubt...
Thankful
I am just so thankful we have a strong armed service so that all of you unappreciative naysayers can voice your opinion without fear.
saint bill
The only people who use that expression are tired Republicans who have to exergerate everything in hopes of getting their point across, and they are the first ones who enjoy more name calling than any political party.
objectivity?
Bush served in uniform until it got inconvenient when the drug tests got too close and he ran away from his military duties.
war on too long
I won’t take away what some service members have done or seen during this war. But I will say this anyone who wants OUR TROOPS back only wants them here ALIVE-not being killed by suicide missions! It’s been more then ten years since we first went to Iraq and I will always remember the death and lives lost-There was no need to go back! Those people have had their beliefs for thousands of years, and we can’t change that!! We can’t force our government on them, it will never be accepted! Bring our troops back, and end this war!
Re: Attack This
No Albert.....backwards reasoning is when confronted with hard facts you impugn the reasoning ability of those that you disagree with to justify your own misperceptions.
FACT: The U.S. has not been attacked for 7 years. You say coincidence...I say give credit where credit is due and we owe the Troops and our President an enormous debt of gratitude for having the fortitude to wage an unwanted but necessary war. We are in for a long hard struggle, this is a difficult reality for many to comprehend or accept.
jmo
What do you read from befuddled McCain's comment?
Bush went to the wrong war
Bush doesn't care about Bin Laden, all he wanted from day one was to go after the oil righ Iraq. It didn't matter to Bush Bin Laden was behind 911, nothing matters to the "decider" except what the 'decider" wants. 1/20/09 can't come soon enough. It's a shame he and Cheney can't be impeached for war crimes, and continued lies to the world and thrown in jail.
Being a mope
It's good to know that I'm considered a mope. A mope that realized that having GW in office was a bad idea from the start. 1/29/09. Bush's last day. No, I don't think I missed the point. We went to "war" over what exactly? No WMD. I'm glad I am a mope!
I just saw that commercial
Last night, in fact, during the David Letterman Show. Very sad, as it was filled with unsubstantiated lies and they did some word tricks to make half truths. Each one of the "actors" in it should be taken to task about his actual part; it would make a good 60 Minutes piece. They do that to all the other actors. Re: KeithB's statement about Bush's military service, I was doing some reading about that and Bush was AWOL no matter how you look at it. There was a lot of subterfuge surrounding the deal but his rich daddy got him an honorable discharge. I wonder if there is anyone powerful enough to pull that off in this day and time? These days, with the "Stop-Loss" protocol, you serve your time and someone's else's or go to military prison. Re: Featured comment: True, no citizen soldier is pro-war. But who is mocking the troops? Where is that happening? Fixed News??
responsibility
Keithb said: "Do you feel that befuddled McCain was wrong to say it is a responsibility to serve our country in uniform?"
Spin spin spin. I don't read that from the McCain quote at all.
jmo