http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/08/strangely-timed.html
Strangely Timed Obama Response Ad on William Ayers
August 25, 2008
ABC News' Tahman Bradley Reports: As Michelle Obama prepares for a primetime speech that will talk about her and Barack Obama's American values, the Obama campaign is using a new television ad to take on the issue of Obama's association with a 1970s radical who bombed the Capitol and Pentagon.
The release of the ad, first reported on Time.com's "The Page", could have the unintended consequence of reminding voters that Obama has in the past been friendly with William Ayers, a Chicago law professor who to this day remains unrepentant about his work with the violent Weather Underground group in the 1960s and 70s.
Obama has denounced Ayers' actions with the radical group, but has also referred to Ayers as "mainstream" and "respectable," a point that conservatives continue to pound the soon-to-be Democratic nominee about.
A 501(c) 4 group, acting independent of Republican John McCain's presidential campaign, last week, hammered Obama for his relationship with Ayers with a provocative television spot in Ohio and Michigan.
"Why would Barack Obama be friends with someone who bombed the Capitol and is proud of it? Do you know enough to elect Barack Obama," the spot by American Issues Project says.
Some news organization, including Fox News Channel, refused to air the ad which uses images of 9/11. The Obama campaign says it has been reaching out to advertisers and sponsors to put pressure on stations to reject the ad, which it calls "despicable" and "false."
Rather than firing back at the outside group, the Obama campaign uses its new TV ad to accuse Sen. McCain of raising the Ayers issue in the presidential campaign.
"With all our problems, why is John McCain talking about the sixties, trying to link Barack Obama to radical Bill Ayers?," an announcer says.
The spot is incorrect in insinuating that John McCain himself has brought up Ayers -- it is in fact McCain's campaign that has sought to use the Ayers association against Obama, and McCain spokesman Brian Rogers did so again upon learning about the ad.
"The fact that Barack Obama chose to launch his political career at the home of an unrepentant terrorist raises more questions about Senator Obama's judgment than any TV ad ever could," Rogers said in a statement.
To the Obama campaign's point, a former McCain aide, Ed Failor Jr. is a key backer of American Issues Project, although he no longer has official ties with the campaign.
The group's sole $2.87 million funder, Texas billionaire Harold Simmons, has bundled between $50,000 and $100,000 for McCain. Simmons, along with another organizer for American Issues Project, Christian Pinkston, were both involved with the 2004 Swift Boats Veterans for Truth group that assailed Sen. John Kerry's war record.
The Obama campaign's attorney Bob Bauer sent a letter to the Justice Department arguing that American Issues Project is engaging is evading federal election law.
501(c) 4 groups are prohibited by law from coordinating with political campaigns to attack a candidate. The McCain campaign denies it has coordinated with the group.
Even with American Issues Project's possible ties to McCain, one key issue still remain. Why would the Obama campaign even want to bring up Ayers as the Democratic National Convention gets underway tonight in Denver?
Showing posts with label Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. Show all posts
Friday, August 29, 2008
Obama spot responds to ad tying him to 60s radical
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iByl1FPfB0D81BuAyW0Vp_9pIyRgD92PI9JG0
Obama spot responds to ad tying him to 60s radical
By JIM KUHNHENN
8-25-8
DENVER (AP) — Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama has quietly begun airing a television commercial countering an outside group that is spending $2.8 million in an attempt to highlight his relationship with a former 1960s radical.
The 30-second TV spot is a response to an ad by the conservative American Issues Project, a nonprofit group that questions Obama's ties to William Ayers, a founder of the Weather Underground organization that took credit for a series of bombings, including nonfatal explosions at the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol four decades ago.
"With all our problems, why is John McCain talking about the 60s, trying to link Barack Obama to radical Bill Ayers," the Obama ad states. "McCain knows Obama denounced Ayers' crimes, committed when Obama was just 8 years old."
Though McCain is not airing the anti-Obama ad, the group that produced and paid for it is financed by a McCain fundraiser and one of its board members is a former consultant to McCain's presidential campaign.
Harold Simmons contributed nearly $2.9 million to the American Issues Project to air the ad. He was a major contributor four years ago to Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. Simmons, CEO of Dallas-based Contran Corp., has also raised $50,000-$100,000 for McCain's presidential campaign.
By Monday afternoon, the American Issues Project ad has already aired about 150 times in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia and Michigan, according to Evan Tracey, head of TNS Media Intelligence/Campaign Media Analysis Group, an ad tracking firm.
An Obama response was known to be running in the Youngstown, Ohio, market, Tracey said. The Obama campaign did not announce the release of the ad, even though it publicly disclosed another anti-McCAin ad released Monday.
Ayers is now a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He and Obama live in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood and served together on the board of the Woods Fund, a Chicago-based charity that develops community groups to help the poor. Obama left the board in December 2002.
Obama also was the first chairman of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, a school reform group of which Ayers was a founder. Ayers also held a meet-the-candidate event at his home for Obama when Obama first ran for office in the mid-1990s.
Obama has denounced Ayers' past activities.
The ad is being aired as Republicans push for more complete disclosure of the links between Obama and Ayers.
On Tuesday, the University of Illinois at Chicago will make available records of Obama's service on the board of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge. The group was set up to improve the city's schools.
"This response ad is more smoke and mirrors from a candidate desperate to obscure his long-standing relationship with admitted domestic terrorist William Ayers," said Ed Martin, American Issues Project's president. "Senator Obama is pretending to barely know the man who hosted the launch of his political career and with whom he has worked for years to advance a liberal agenda."
The McCain campaign cannot coordinate efforts with outside groups. But the campaign took advantage of being the target of the ad to respond.
"The fact that Barack Obama chose to launch his political career at the home of an unrepentant terrorist raises more questions about Senator Obama's judgment than any TV ad ever could," said McCain spokesman Brian Rogers.
Obama spot responds to ad tying him to 60s radical
By JIM KUHNHENN
8-25-8
DENVER (AP) — Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama has quietly begun airing a television commercial countering an outside group that is spending $2.8 million in an attempt to highlight his relationship with a former 1960s radical.
The 30-second TV spot is a response to an ad by the conservative American Issues Project, a nonprofit group that questions Obama's ties to William Ayers, a founder of the Weather Underground organization that took credit for a series of bombings, including nonfatal explosions at the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol four decades ago.
"With all our problems, why is John McCain talking about the 60s, trying to link Barack Obama to radical Bill Ayers," the Obama ad states. "McCain knows Obama denounced Ayers' crimes, committed when Obama was just 8 years old."
Though McCain is not airing the anti-Obama ad, the group that produced and paid for it is financed by a McCain fundraiser and one of its board members is a former consultant to McCain's presidential campaign.
Harold Simmons contributed nearly $2.9 million to the American Issues Project to air the ad. He was a major contributor four years ago to Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. Simmons, CEO of Dallas-based Contran Corp., has also raised $50,000-$100,000 for McCain's presidential campaign.
By Monday afternoon, the American Issues Project ad has already aired about 150 times in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia and Michigan, according to Evan Tracey, head of TNS Media Intelligence/Campaign Media Analysis Group, an ad tracking firm.
An Obama response was known to be running in the Youngstown, Ohio, market, Tracey said. The Obama campaign did not announce the release of the ad, even though it publicly disclosed another anti-McCAin ad released Monday.
Ayers is now a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He and Obama live in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood and served together on the board of the Woods Fund, a Chicago-based charity that develops community groups to help the poor. Obama left the board in December 2002.
Obama also was the first chairman of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, a school reform group of which Ayers was a founder. Ayers also held a meet-the-candidate event at his home for Obama when Obama first ran for office in the mid-1990s.
Obama has denounced Ayers' past activities.
The ad is being aired as Republicans push for more complete disclosure of the links between Obama and Ayers.
On Tuesday, the University of Illinois at Chicago will make available records of Obama's service on the board of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge. The group was set up to improve the city's schools.
"This response ad is more smoke and mirrors from a candidate desperate to obscure his long-standing relationship with admitted domestic terrorist William Ayers," said Ed Martin, American Issues Project's president. "Senator Obama is pretending to barely know the man who hosted the launch of his political career and with whom he has worked for years to advance a liberal agenda."
The McCain campaign cannot coordinate efforts with outside groups. But the campaign took advantage of being the target of the ad to respond.
"The fact that Barack Obama chose to launch his political career at the home of an unrepentant terrorist raises more questions about Senator Obama's judgment than any TV ad ever could," said McCain spokesman Brian Rogers.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Kerry Vows to Disprove Swift Boat Claims
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20071116/D8SUVVKG1.html
Kerry Vows to Disprove Swift Boat Claims
Nov 16, 2007
By GLEN JOHNSON
BOSTON (AP) - Sen. John Kerry, whose 2004 presidential campaign was torpedoed by critics of his Vietnam War record, said Friday he has personally accepted a Texas oilman's offer to pay $1 million to anyone who can disprove even a single charge of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.
In a letter to T. Boone Pickens, the Massachusetts Democrat wrote: "While I am prepared to show they lied on allegation after allegation, you have generously offered to pay one million dollars for just one thing that can be proven false. I am prepared to prove the lie beyond any reasonable doubt."
Kerry, a Navy veteran and former prosecutor, said he was willing to present his case directly to Pickens, who provided $3 million to bankroll the group during Kerry's race against President Bush.
Kerry said he would donate any proceeds to the Paralyzed Veterans of America.
The senator said Pickens issued the challenge Nov. 6 in Washington, while serving as chairman of a 40th anniversary gala for American Spectator magazine.
In the letter, Kerry offered to travel to Dallas to meet with Pickens in a public forum or to invite him to come to Massachusetts. He suggested the two could visit the Paralyzed Veterans of America in Norwood to see firsthand how Pickens' money could be used to help veterans. A copy of the letter was provided to The Associated Press.
Pickens spokesman Jay Rosser asked to review the letter before commenting.
First in the book "Unfit for Command," and then in a series of television commercials, Kerry's critics challenged the circumstances for his military awards, accused him of doctoring reports and argued he never traveled into Cambodia as claimed.
While fellow veterans and reporters disproved many of the group's claims at the time, Kerry refused to air ads responding to the criticism. His own response was muted for fear of legitimizing his critics' attacks. The senator conceded after losing to Bush that his lackluster response likely cost him the election.
Ever since, Kerry has worked to lay the criticisms to rest.
In May 2005, he began allowing reporters access to his full Navy personnel and medical records - something he refused to do during the campaign.
Those records mostly duplicated documents Kerry released during the 2004 campaign. In addition, they included numerous commendations from commanders who criticized Kerry's service during the presidential race.
That disclosure renewed questions about why Kerry did not respond more forcefully with control over the White House at stake.
Kerry decided against launching a second bid for president, but vowed to defend his record and prevent other candidates from being "Swift-boated."
In his letter to Pickens, the senator challenged the billionaire's honor.
`"I trust that you are a man of your word, having made a very public challenge at a major Washington dinner, and look forward to taking you up on this challenge," Kerry wrote.
Kerry Vows to Disprove Swift Boat Claims
Nov 16, 2007
By GLEN JOHNSON
BOSTON (AP) - Sen. John Kerry, whose 2004 presidential campaign was torpedoed by critics of his Vietnam War record, said Friday he has personally accepted a Texas oilman's offer to pay $1 million to anyone who can disprove even a single charge of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.
In a letter to T. Boone Pickens, the Massachusetts Democrat wrote: "While I am prepared to show they lied on allegation after allegation, you have generously offered to pay one million dollars for just one thing that can be proven false. I am prepared to prove the lie beyond any reasonable doubt."
Kerry, a Navy veteran and former prosecutor, said he was willing to present his case directly to Pickens, who provided $3 million to bankroll the group during Kerry's race against President Bush.
Kerry said he would donate any proceeds to the Paralyzed Veterans of America.
The senator said Pickens issued the challenge Nov. 6 in Washington, while serving as chairman of a 40th anniversary gala for American Spectator magazine.
In the letter, Kerry offered to travel to Dallas to meet with Pickens in a public forum or to invite him to come to Massachusetts. He suggested the two could visit the Paralyzed Veterans of America in Norwood to see firsthand how Pickens' money could be used to help veterans. A copy of the letter was provided to The Associated Press.
Pickens spokesman Jay Rosser asked to review the letter before commenting.
First in the book "Unfit for Command," and then in a series of television commercials, Kerry's critics challenged the circumstances for his military awards, accused him of doctoring reports and argued he never traveled into Cambodia as claimed.
While fellow veterans and reporters disproved many of the group's claims at the time, Kerry refused to air ads responding to the criticism. His own response was muted for fear of legitimizing his critics' attacks. The senator conceded after losing to Bush that his lackluster response likely cost him the election.
Ever since, Kerry has worked to lay the criticisms to rest.
In May 2005, he began allowing reporters access to his full Navy personnel and medical records - something he refused to do during the campaign.
Those records mostly duplicated documents Kerry released during the 2004 campaign. In addition, they included numerous commendations from commanders who criticized Kerry's service during the presidential race.
That disclosure renewed questions about why Kerry did not respond more forcefully with control over the White House at stake.
Kerry decided against launching a second bid for president, but vowed to defend his record and prevent other candidates from being "Swift-boated."
In his letter to Pickens, the senator challenged the billionaire's honor.
`"I trust that you are a man of your word, having made a very public challenge at a major Washington dinner, and look forward to taking you up on this challenge," Kerry wrote.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
