The Surrogates' War
Two ads have started running in some TV markets across the state paid for by PAC's and 527's, -- the so-called "soft money" PACs that can raise and spend money on behalf of candidates. (OpenSecrets.com has a good primer on them.)
One is anti-Santorum. The other pro-Santorum.
One of the ads, called "Body Armor" beats the hell out of Rick Santorum for failing to support bill that would have provided up-to-date body armor for troops in Iraq and Afganistan. The vote in question was over a $1 billion bill, offered by a Senate Democrat, that went down along party lines. Identical ads -- run by the same group in Virgnia -- have raised hackles, certainly among their targets, who are Republican incumbents.
The ad are paid for by a group called VoteVet.org, an organization of Iraq and Afganistan veterans that includes Gen. Wesley Clark & former Sen. Bob Kerrey -- both Democrats -- on its board of advisers. Here is their web page.
PostScript Friday, Sept. 22: There is a piece in today's Allentown Morning-Call about the vets ad. It reports that it is running only in western Pa.
The other ad, called "Who I Am Today," praises Santorum for his support of welfare reform and criticizes Bob Casey for opposing it. It features a former welfare recipient who tells of her experience on welfare and post-welfare. It is a much softer piece than the Vets ad. And it was done by Softervoices, a 527 founded and supported by conservative women. The board includes Midge Decter and Heather Higgins. Here is the group's web page.
One is anti-Santorum. The other pro-Santorum.
One of the ads, called "Body Armor" beats the hell out of Rick Santorum for failing to support bill that would have provided up-to-date body armor for troops in Iraq and Afganistan. The vote in question was over a $1 billion bill, offered by a Senate Democrat, that went down along party lines. Identical ads -- run by the same group in Virgnia -- have raised hackles, certainly among their targets, who are Republican incumbents.
The ad are paid for by a group called VoteVet.org, an organization of Iraq and Afganistan veterans that includes Gen. Wesley Clark & former Sen. Bob Kerrey -- both Democrats -- on its board of advisers. Here is their web page.
PostScript Friday, Sept. 22: There is a piece in today's Allentown Morning-Call about the vets ad. It reports that it is running only in western Pa.
The other ad, called "Who I Am Today," praises Santorum for his support of welfare reform and criticizes Bob Casey for opposing it. It features a former welfare recipient who tells of her experience on welfare and post-welfare. It is a much softer piece than the Vets ad. And it was done by Softervoices, a 527 founded and supported by conservative women. The board includes Midge Decter and Heather Higgins. Here is the group's web page.
posted by Tom Ferrick Jr. at 5:59 PM
4 Comments:
Is this the ad your talking about?
False Claims About Body Armor
A new group falsely accuses Republicans of voting against body armor for troops. Both sides have misled the public about this issue.
September 20, 2006
Modified:September 20, 2006
Summary
A new ad claims Republican Sen. George Allen of Virginia "voted against giving our troops" modern body armor. He did no such thing. The ad cites a vote on an appropriations amendment that had nothing whatever to do with body armor.
The ad also claims troops were sent to Iraq with flak vests "left over from the Vietnam war," another falsehood. The ad actually shows an improved vest that wasn't available until the 1980's.
The newly formed group responsible for the ad, VoteVets.org, is reported to be considering similar ads attacking several other Republican incumbents, and has already announced their intention to start running them against Sen.Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania.
http://factcheck.org/printerfriendly438.html
The Vets ad may be false, but so is Santorum's smear ad accusing Casey of staffing his Senate campaing with criminals.... Live by the sword, die by the sword.
If Santorum and his best friend George Bush REALLY supported our troops, they would never have sent them overseas as cannon fodder without an intelligent exit strategy. We'll never get out of this quagmire.
Why anybody pays attention to campaign ads is beyond me. They hold no credibility whatsoever, IMO. At best they're ways to direct my attention to an issue I haven't heard about before, but the responsibility falls on me to figure out what actually happened.
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