Posted on 09/09/2004 5:25:28 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
A "grandchild" of Berkeley-based MoveOn.org will air a new television ad in swing states challenging President Bush's claims of service in the Air National Guard. Texans for Truth, a section 527 advocacy group, begins airing its 30-second "AWOL" spot Monday in battleground states that have suffered the highest casualties in Iraq, said Director Glenn W. Smith of Austin, Tex.
Texans for Truth was created Aug. 31 by DriveDemocracy.org, a Web-based, Texas-focused grass-roots political organization; Smith co-directs that, too. DriveDemocracy.org is modeled upon MoveOn.org and got what its Web site calls "a generous start-up grant" from it -- money left over from MoveOn's 2003 campaign against the GOP-led congressional redistricting in Texas.
Smith said this week's initial $110,000 ad buy -- on basic cable in Pittsburgh; Columbus, Ohio; Portland, Ore.; Phoenix; Detroit; and Lansing, Mich. -- was to be bankrolled with online donations from DriveDemocracy.org members and Move-
On.org members in Texas.
"We've been raising money since yesterday, and it's coming in at an unexpected clip," he said Wednesday morning, adding it was coming in small denominations.
But later Wednesday, screenwriter Daniel J. O'Keefe of Los Angeles wired Texans for Truth $100,000, bringing the group's total funding so far between $300,000 and $400,000. "He'd called yesterday, he'd gotten the e-mail, and he wanted to help out in a big way," Smith said.
Records show O'Keefe has given the Democratic National Committee at least $23,500 since August 2003.
"AWOL" features Bob Mintz, who served with the Alabama Air National Guard's 187th Tactical Squadron in Montgomery, Ala., from 1967 until his 1984 retirement as a lieutenant colonel, saying he doesn't recall ever having seen then-Lt. George W. Bush with the unit.
Mintz, 63, of Germantown, Tenn., told reporters Wednesday the 187th wasn't big -- only 900 people at most, with about 40 to 60 flight officers of whom just a handful were lieutenants -- and although he'd heard someone speaking of a politically connected Texan scheduled to drill with the unit in 1972, he never saw the person.
But while Mintz said several former pilots he knows can corroborate this, he wouldn't name them Wednesday, nor could he say with certainty that he was at the unit's base on the precise dates for which records show Bush was paid.
"I've done a lot of soul searching, and the reason I'm coming forward is I feel it's my duty to stand up and say the right thing," Mintz said. "I'm telling my story and leaving it up to the American people to decide."
Smith said with more than 1,000 troops killed in Iraq, America deserves to hear more about whether President Bush truly fulfilled his own military duties -- an appropriate inquiry given ongoing attacks against Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, who volunteered to serve and was wounded in Vietnam.
"It's Bush himself who opened the door to these questions by failing to tell us everything he could tell us," Smith said.
Corporate records show DriveDemocracy.org's directors are Smith; Hilbert Ocanas of San Antonio, Tex., the Texas Democratic Party's former vice chairman for finance; and political media consultant Margie Becker of Austin.
Bush has said he'd like to abolish Section 527 advocacy groups and their political ads, but his own backers keep pouring money into 527s, too. For example, the Progress for America Voter Fund collected almost $4.2 million between Aug. 26 and Sept. 1.
Dallas oilman and corporate takeover mogul T. Boone Pickens Jr. gave $2 million; another Dallas takeover king, Harold Clark Simmons, gave $1.5 million; Chesapeake Energy Chairman and CEO Aubrey McClendon of Oklahoma City gave $250,000; Marian S. Ware of Strasburg, Pa., the widow of a former GOP congress- man, gave $150,000; and her son, retired Penn Fuel Gas Inc. Chairman Paul Ware of Lancaster, Pa., gave $100,000. The only California donor in that period was Irvine venture capitalist and investment manager David Hanna, giving $50,000.
The group reported spending about $930,000 to air an anti-Kerry television ad from Sept. 1 to Wednesday in eight upper Midwestern states.
Marian Ware's daughter, Marilyn, a former water utility chairwoman, is both a Progress for America Voter Fund advisory board member and a Bush "pioneer," meaning she has raised at least $100,000 for the president's re-election. Hanna is a Bush "ranger," meaning he has raised at least $200,000.
Contact Josh Richman at jrichman@ang-
Progressives are vultures.
It's a take-off on the Swiftees ad. More polished in it's production, but doesn't have the sincerity. It'll satisfy the Bush haters, but I doubt it will do much damage with the general public.
Their best truth - 'Ahh didn't see U thahre'. . .
Well GW most likely does not know 'U' ; and did not see you 'thayre' either. A big 'duh. . .and soooooooo?
Truth for the sheeple-minded only. . .
Orwellian...
I saw parts of the ad when it was discussed on FNC. It was a total rip off on the Swift Boat Vets commercial to the point that I think many people will either assume it is a Swifty ad or reminds people of the Swifties ads.
Could do more harm to Kerry than good.
Right. It's obvious that its a calculation and by copying the style, it opens them up to ridicule.
Also, what can these guys talk about? "Uh, I was there and never saw him". "Me, too, never saw him". In contrast to the various SBV eyewitness who report what they DID see. Huge difference between one group reporting that they saw something vs another group saying they didn't see anything.
I do remember some of the best and the worst officers or enlisted people I served with over the years. Those stick out as real successes or real failures. This group has no clue to the truth.
VERY IMPORTANT--REBUTTAL. BUSH'S NATIONAL GUARD YEARS (Byron York)
But while Mintz said several former pilots he knows can corroborate this, he wouldn't name them Wednesday, nor could he say with certainty that he was at the unit's base on the precise dates for which records show Bush was paid.
That clears it up nicely, thanks!
Don't all 527 groups have ties with someone??
That my take..It will reinforce the Haters but is not going to move voters who are undecideds....Bush is running on his record as President...
These boobs are preaching to the choir. Nothing but red meat for the rabid anti-Bush haters. Real supporters of Bush and undecideds are going to laugh at these rejects because they know Bush isn't running on his Guard service AND they know that this is a cheap knockoff of the Swiftvets. They really think Bush is going to complain and "demand" that the ads be taken off the air. Ain't gonna happen.
AWOL a take off from Swiftboat?
Imitation is a form of flatterly.
I'm still waiting for Kerry to condemn these 527 attack ads . . . . .
. . . . . and waiting . . . . . and waiting . . . . . . .
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz . . . . . . . .
900 personnel is not a big squadron? I served in the Navy's largest active duty squadron and we had just over 700 personnel!
How come Minter wasn't over in Nam?
You betcha. Apparently, President Bush was supposed to name all the people who never saw him in Alabama, or get hit with these spots. The truth is, several people have gone on the record saying they remember Mr. Bush on duty in Alabama.
So this idiot didn't know every single person in a battalion sized element. Cue Gomer Pyle.... "Surprise Surprise Surprise!" There is no possible way to 'know' everyone in a unit that big. And this moron claims that is a 'small' unit! We really should start examining this idiots records, cause if he thinks 900 personnel is a small unit, then he never showed up himself and doesn't have a friggin' clue.
Of course, he doesn't remember if he drilled on the same dates as the President. But by gum, he remembers not seeing someone he didn't know, hadn't ever seen....
Wait one! If this asshat didn't know what GW Bush, LT, one each looked like back then, how the hell does he know he didn't see him?! How in God's name did this obvious incompetent make O-5? He must be politically connected himself, because he definitely didn't make it on merit.
Is there a list anywhere of donors to these orgs? I don't mean just the huge donations, but the smaller ones.
Easy! Find me a transcript and I'll post it. What a loser of a commercial that is.
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