Balance.
Veterans’ Group Hopes to Counter MoveOn With Ad Campaignby FOXNews.com
Saturday, July 5, 2008
A veterans’ group that sharply criticized Barack Obama is planning a multimillion-dollar ad campaign, which it hopes will counter the anti-war message of MoveOn.org in the run-up to the general election.
The group, Vets for Freedom, plans to launch its four-month campaign next week, called “Four Months, for Victory.”
Chairman Pete Hegseth said the group’s first ad buy will not mention either Obama or John McCain. He said the group has not endorsed anybody in the presidential race.
But Vets for Freedom, made up of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan, considers McCain a key ally and could provide the Republican presidential candidate with a boost, simply by espousing the kind of stay-the-course strategy he has advocated. The 25,000-member group is a firm proponent of the troop buildup in Iraq.
Hegseth, in an interview with FOXNews.com, said he hopes to outmatch the message coming out of MoveOn.org — which has endorsed Obama and is already running ads accusing McCain of wanting to wage a near-endless war in Iraq.
“We would love to counter their message. I think the American people would rather hear from those who served than those who … call our generals traitors,” Hegseth said. “We need to ensure that we capitalize on the successful efforts (in Iraq) and ultimately do what we can to finish the job and get our troops back with honor.”
He said the first ad buy, which would run for two weeks, will cost about $1.5 million. He noted that that is more than the $500,000 MoveOn.org spent on their most recent ad, which was scheduled to run one week.
That ad was paid for by MoveOn.org and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. It featured an actress who, holding an infant named Alex, addressed McCain and said “when you say you would stay in Iraq for 100 years, were you counting on Alex? Because if you were, you can’t have him.”
The ad was scheduled to air nationally on select cable networks and in the Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin markets.
Hegseth said his group is also targeting such battleground states. He said the first ad will run in Virginia, Ohio, Colorado and Michigan. And he said $1.5 million is just the start.
“We hope to spend exponentially more in the next four months,” he said.
The group is a non-profit 501(c)(4) and Hegseth stressed that it was not running “attack” ads.
In a statement, the group said it would release “pointed ads” as part of an effort to “inform the American public and key lawmakers about the phenomenal success that our troops have achieved as a result of the surge and the importance of ensuring victory in Iraq, Afghanistan and the overall global war on terrorism.”
But Vets for Freedom applied pressure on Obama in May when it released a pair of Web videos criticizing the Illinois senator for not having visited Iraq since January 2006. McCain seemed to echo the group’s talking points on the campaign trail, and Obama since has begun formalizing a trip to Iraq and Afghanistan, which he’s expected to take this summer.
“The surge worked. But Barack Obama wouldn’t know that, because he hasn’t been there in over two years,” one veteran said in one of the videos.
Veterans from both wars also are expected to appear in the new ad, according to the group.
Asked if future ads would criticize Obama, Hegseth said: “There’s a possibility we may be critical of a number of legislators … that’s to be determined.”
A representative from MoveOn.org could not be reached for comment.
McCain, who trails Obama in overall fundraising, so far has not been aided by many outside groups.
The veterans’ group also is planning a ground campaign, tapping veteran members throughout the country to spread “the ground truth” about progress in both wars.
In May, two top McCain surrogates — Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham — stepped down from their positions on the policy board of Vets for Freedom to comply with McCain’s campaign guidelines prohibiting campaign operatives from working with independent political groups.
http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/07/05/veterans-group-critical-of-obama-plans-costly-ad-campaign/
