Democrats Pull Ad With Flag-Draped Coffins

[sabra]

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060715/D8IS3LK81.html

Democrats Pull Ad With Flag-Draped Coffins

ROCK HILL, S.C. (AP) - Democrats pulled an Internet ad that showed flag-draped coffins Friday after Republicans and at least two Democrats demanded it be taken down on grounds the image was insensitive and not fit for a political commercial.

The ad by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee called for a "new direction" and displayed a staccato of images, including war scenes, pollution and breached levees as well as a photograph of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay doctored to look like a police mug shot.

The campaign committee replaced the ad with a radio commercial that targets Rep. John Hostetler, R-Ind., for opposing an increase in the minimum wage. Democrats have made a minimum wage increase a central theme of this year's election.

...

"We're moving to another major effort that we're highlighting on our Web site," DCCC spokesman Bill Burton said.

[OwnedByFerrets]

1. What I need to know and haven't

heard yet, is how long do those ads usually stay up? Was this one up the usual amount of time or did they cave?

[villager]

2. that's a good question -- otherwise

the Dems are hopeless chickenshits, once again

[quiet.american]

3. Sigh... yep. n/t

[sabra]

4. considering it was getting 10k hits in a short period of time

I would think they would want to keep it up...

[calimary]

5. Got SPINE???

Umm... guess not.

Gee, I wonder - did the republi-CONS pull that hideously offensive campaign commercial in Georgia in 2002, in which Max Cleland was tied visually to Osama bin Laden, so saxby CHICKENHAWK chambliss could "take" his job? But then again, did anybody from the Dems even voice a complaint about that one? Or did they feel they had to take the high road again (straight over a cliff) and be nice?

DAMN this is getting old...

I wouldn't have withdrawn that spot. I'd have purchased MORE airtime for it, and jammed it down their frickin' throats.

AND, at the same time, I would have produced a second spot, a companion piece, addressing the whining republi-CONS, and pointing out how sad it is that a commercial like THIS (show clip of coffins), that points out the TRUE cost of war (show clip of coffins again), is the only time YOU will ever get to see them come home like this (show clip of coffins AGAIN), after being sent to a war - based on LIES (show clip of gunfire and explosions and other disorder in Iraq). Then I'd add the sentence - the republi-CONS don't want you to see THIS part of the war. They want you to think things are getting wonderfully better in Iraq, that the insurgency is in its last throes, and that we're winning the hearts and minds (show more clips of violence and chaos in Iraq, and sobbing children and sobbing women). THAT'S why they don't like our commercials. They don't want YOU to know the TRUTH. Because they know you won't like it. And they're afraid you won't support THEIR war - anymore.

GLOVES OFF.

And every time some CONservative asshole or republi-CON spinmeister or other war-hog makes a stink about it, I'd generate ANOTHER commercial poking holes in him/her - from stem to stern.

I've seen lots of excellent spots produced here - by DUers and others of like mind. They are so seriously air-worthy, it's almost a sin that they're not getting exposure on the mainstream airwaves. There's LOTS of great material out there. I just wish ONE of our guys, even just ONE, would have the courage to make use of them. No wonder so many voters still insist the Dems don't stand for anything.

[Biernuts]

15. See my post below - this ain't about SPINE, it's about votes

Do you want to stick it in their eye and feel good tomorrow, or do you want to feel good November 8th. The base is already going to vote Democratic but you can't win without most of the center. If you are perceived as "They were nasty, so I am too", you're back to "politics as usual - those two extreme parties are just alike, just on opposite ends of the spectrum."

You need to give the center reasons to vote FOR you rather than AGAINST them.

Now, the weekend reports, and maybe Sunday talk, will be

1 - We went negative first in 2006
2 - We are just as bad as the are (the no difference argument)

AND, our ability to criticize over politicizing war images is effectively neutered.

To WIN, you have to be more than mad, you have to think as well.

[w4rma]

21. You buy into what the network pundits say too easily, Biernuts.

And you take it too far into the extreme.

[earthside]

28. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

If the Dems back down every single time the craven, radical Republicans throw a hissy fit about some little detail ... then they are playing right into KKKarl Rove's strategy.

Dems won't even stick up for themselves .... how could you ever expect them to be strong for our national security?

And this was such a perfect place for Dems to take a stand. All they had to do is push right back in the radical Republicans' face and ask: "Why are you so ashamed of the sacrifice or our brave U.S. troops?"

But, once again, fear of being called a name and political tactics takes priority for Democrats over showing determination and resolve. How does that win votes?

The 'center' will be persuaded by the Rovian trick of fearmongering, and the 'center' will vote for the candidates that show strength and decisiveness -- even if they disagree with them on specific issues -- because they want someone who will have the unshakable determination to 'protect' them.

Now how are Dems going to do that when they flinch every time the radical Republicans make them question a photo in a campaign ad?

Indeed, think!

[Mountainman]

34. Man you just don't get it do you? We look worse because the repubs

say it was a bad ad then we pull it like yes it was, "So sorry mr repub, we dems won't do it again, will you please vote for us anyway? Pretty please?"

We look like such wusses all the time!

[cobalt1999]

51. look like wusses?

We ARE wusses most of the time. I'm still waiting for them to stand up and not back done on something substantial.

They back down and now want to focus on minimum wage!?! It's important, but will drive people to the polls on election day?...NO!

[pokercat999]

39. It's not about what is best for the American people. It's

about retaining your seat at any cost. It's about the conspiracy between re-pugs and re-pug lite dinos that will do anything, say anything, to preserve their current seat or move up the food chain to the next higher office. It's about huge egos stealing billions form our treasury. In almost all cases it's NOT about serving your country or it's people. The few good "pubic servants" could be replaced every election cycle with no harm to the system and who knows with a one term and out forever policy we may actually make it unattractive enough that only true patriots would serve.

One term out forever never to hold any other federal office or position, while at the same time forever giving up the right to lobby the government except as a private citizen in a personal matter.

[MissWaverly]

44. I can see your logic

but the democrats are so worried about being criticized, showing flag draped coffins is not a joke and they are not making fun of those who died, they are trying to get people to think
about the cost of this war. I think it's time that America focused on what is going wrong
rather than what is nice. Did these conscientous Americans object when Tony Snow said the
number of Iraq casualties was just a number. Where were their tears then? This is a replay
of the bitter attack methods they started during Clinton.

[Threedifferentones]

45. So now we were "negative" and SORRY about it?

Seems worse to me, especially since the Iraq War is so unpopular. Dems should be abusing it as an issue.

[high density]

50. We're always the first to go negative according to the media

So who gives a shit what the Sunday talk shows say. Nobody watches those but political junkies that like having spears poked in their eyes.

[Vincardog]

52. Biernuts The only things in the middle of the road are a paint stripe and

and dead armadillos. If the mythical middle has not made its' mind up about there thieves and traitors yet they are too dumb to matter.

If you offer the voters a choice between a FAUX republican and a real republican they will pick the real republican.

If they are offered a choice between a republican and a real Democrat they will pick the real Democrat.

Put down the kool aid and step away from the Corporate Controlled Media.

[Emillereid]

53. We don't bring out our base -- historically we have been able to

call the poor and the working class our BASE -- but since we don't give them candidates that speak to their needs they don't vote. Joe Trippi proposed to Kerry in 2004 that he forgo all corporate money and just rely on the people, which would free him up to speak to the real Democratic party constituency - people like single Moms with three children. Kerry didn't bite -- but it's still a good strategy.

The DLC strategy of going after the muddled middle and not bringing our the base has never worked -- and never will.

And this strategy is losing me -- for instance, there is no way in hell that I will cast my vote for Dianne Feinstein again. There is a point that I must vote my conscience and not my party -- and she has been SO Republican -- that she will not and does not deserve my support. Don't worry I'm not going to vote for a repuke either -- I'll go Green.

To the point of this story -- I've said it before and I'll say it again -- if the democratic party can't find itself on the right side of the moral divide (known as the Iraq debacle) it doesn't deserve support either. Not only should we be screaming the obvious truths about Iraq (death, destruction, corruption) but we should be rallying the citizenry into whatever action is necessary to save our constitution!! If the Dems can't do it -- then it should fold up and let another party with balls -- come to the fore.

[maryallen]

59. Got balls? Hell, no ...

Just another dumb*ss move by the lily-livered, bought-and-paid-for, corporate cowards in the Democratic party.

I'm getting really sick of this shit... and I can't be alone in thinking this.

[pdurod1]

6. where's Kerry's response to happening in the ME

[Monkeyman]

7. Call 202-224-3121 ask for Big R office let him know how you feel

[rocktivity]

8. It's on YouTube (for now)

So let's spread it ourselves.

:headbang:
rocknation

[concord]

48. I can see why the repugs wanted it pulled

It's a good argument. Thanks for posting it. I'm spreading it.

[Biernuts]

9. Offensive or not is a matter of personal taste - as a matter of

campaign strategy, you have to wonder what the objective was.

Those who approved of the ads are highly-motivated to vote anti-Bush.

Those who disapproved are highly-motivated to vote pro-Bush.

That leave the middle ground. Before they were run, the right was open to charges that they politicized images of 9-11 and subsequent carrier landings. Now, BOTH right and left are open to that charge. The independent or moderate undecided voters now have one less reason to favor Democrats over Republicans because now BOTH sides have done it. We are back to another area where, fair or not, conventional wisdom will be "just another area where there's not a damn bit of a difference between the two major parties".

Had the DCCC not run it, there would have been a relative advantage as a "clean or dirty" campaign issue. Now, well, let's move on to something else because the issue of the propriety of such images is no longer in play.

[brentspeak]

13. Good analysis

[dionysus]

33. that's spineless wimp talk

and ppl wonder why we lose....

[MissWaverly]

46. Kerry ran a nice guy campaign = demonized by Karl Rove

These people are not going to play nice ever, if they did, they would have nothing to run on, you don't seriously think they are going to run on their record. They will smear. and lie and cheat because it's the only way they can hope to win. Look at Ann Coulter, does she play nice,
do the Republicans worry that people will reject them because of her or Pat Robertson, no.

[Danieljay]

56. the objective was to portray the truth, Is that so hard for people to get?

What about the truth do people NOT want to see? When the Dems continually bow down and kiss the feet of the Republican party, those people in the 'middle ground' assume that the message was somehow wrong and the Republican spin machine is right.

The Dems just proved themselves at the mercy of propaganda and right wing spin. Words can hardly express how disgusted this makes me feel.

The neo-cons are right about Democrats being cowards, just for a different reason.

[IndianaGreen]

10. Once again the Beltway Democrats let the GOP dictate the agenda

The only thing that was in bad taste was the wasteful war that Bush has gotten us involved in Iraq.

[mitchum]

27. That is the correct answer, IndianaGreen (N/T)

[Mz Pip]

11. DUmb Dumb Dumb

Letting the Repugs control the message again. Spineless wimps. With that attitude we'll lose in 2006.

Mz Pip
:dem:

[brentspeak]

14. Yup.

Either place the ad and stick with it, or don't run the ad at all. But the one thing the Democrats should never do, is pull the ad because the Republicans demand it.

[onehandle]

12. The ad was pulled as requested in a letter by a Democrat it says here...

I wonder who actually pulled the trigger.

"A Democratic ad showing flag-draped caskets was pulled Friday from a fundraising Web site, a day after U.S. Rep. John Spratt sent a letter urging his party to do so."

http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/myrtlebeachonline/15042119.htm

[Biernuts]

17. Bet he is re-elected and gets credit for the high road n/t

[me b zola]

20. This is why the DCCC doesn't get a dime from me

I give my $$$ to individual Dems who are too busy doing the work of the people to be bothered bending over for the rethugs.

It was a great ad, I thought it was highly effective.

[droidamus2]

58. Weak, weak, weak

So now the party makes decisions based on the member with the weakest will? I am sorry the Rep. Spratt didn't like the ad, but why should he have veto power over political stategy. Strong leadership not only stands up to the opposition but also stands up to those that would weaken the party from within.

[bluestateguy]

16. Well, I'm sure the Right will stop being mean now

Cowards.

I hope the chickenshit Beltway Democrats are enjoying their Georgetown cocktail parties tonight.

[progressivebydesign]

42. no shit... Gotta play nice children! We don't want to make GOP mad!! n/t

[Roy]

18. It was a good, clean, and non exploitive ad

I wouldn't be surprise to see the RNC take it and change the D to R and run it themselves.
And when the Dems scream, they will just say STFU, and the Dems will just apologize and sit down.

[darkism]

19. Spineless fucking cowards.

My first reaction, at least.

[Raine]

22. Wimpy, wimpy, wimpy

I quit making donations to the Democrats after the last election (2004) and until they get some backbone they won't get another cent from me. :mad:

[wellst0nev0ter]

23. These Are The People I'm Supposed To Vote For?

I think people who are more offended by flag-draped coffins than by the current policy that will guarantee more flag-draped coffins are too stupid to breathe. How are they supposed to stand up for America if they can't stand up for themselves.


Dumbocrats.

[radfringe]

24. doing the hokey pokey?

put your balls on, take your balls off - turn yourself about

[radfringe]

25. many years ago

my partner broke her back and had to have surgery. She refers to it as having a "ziplock back"

looks like the Dems have a similar situation - except instead of using zippers they are using velcro - quicker and easier to put and take out the spine

as far as their balls - those are just hung up with a cup hook

[Toots]

26. Well Democrats I've just about "Had Enough"

This is almost enough to make me not want to vote at all. Apparently there is no one bold enough to actually protect America that is competent..I don't mean from terrorists either..

[bluedog]

29. what a load of crap.......

the GOP has been capitalizing on 9-11 since it happened...bush speaks at military bases and always brings up 9-11.................he speaks about how well things are going in Iraq.......yet he doesn't allow the caskets of the dead to be shown.......do people realize that these men and women are not just a"number"..........but had a family and a future for themselves and they died...because of bush's' lies???????

I am do disgusted that they pulled the ad............its like they pulled the "truth" from the American people.....

this is not a game.....these men and women were living breathing souls..............and thats whats wrong with this entire situation...

The Democratic party is turning into "whimpy".........little mice......don't think for a second that if the President was a Democrat that they wouldn't use the same methods...............talk about spineless.......this party is much to be desired on this point.......

[xchrom]

30. so the gop is right -- the beltway dems are weak.

weak on their own issues.

maybe what i should start thinking is -- if the beltway democrats can't defend themselves from the gop -- maybe they can't defend the country?

[ShortnFiery]

32. They always have been ... remember it was The People of

the Democratic Party MARCHING in the streets and other non-violent protests that helped end the insanity of what was The Vietnam War.

The Democratic Leadership OFTEN, especially with the tough issues, has to be dragged, kicking and screaming, to do THE RIGHT THING.

[xchrom]

36. i was there.

just pointing out what i think is obvious.

[yurbud]

31. Delay does have a police mugshot!

[blindpig]

35. Making a warm, fluffy place for the so-called centrists,

who have been flocking in droves to the Democratic Party thanks to their continual drift to the right.:eyes: Half the populace doesn't vote, gee, I wonder why?

The Democratic Party: working hard to make Ralph Nader right.

[seemslikeadream]

37. SPINELESS CHICKENSHITS!

I AM SO TIRED OF THIS FUCKIN' CRAP

RUN THIS AD YA WORTHLESS EXCUSES FOR HUMAN BEINGS

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/seemslikeadream/109

2506 "I'm waiting to hear the words 'I was wrong' Dick Morris, 4/9/03



"Tommy Franks and the coalition forces have demonstrated the old axiom
that boldness on the battlefield produces swift and relatively
bloodless victory. The three-week swing through Iraq has utterly
shattered skeptics' complaints." (Fox News Channel's Tony Snow,
4/27/03)



"The only people who think this wasn't a victory are Upper Westside
liberals, and a few people here in Washington." (Charles Krauthammer,
Inside Washington, WUSA-TV, 4/19/03)



"I will bet you the best dinner in the gaslight district of San Diego
that military action will not last more than a week. Are you willing to
take that wager?" (Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly, 1/29/03)



"What's he going to talk about a year from now, the fact that the war
went too well and it's over? I mean, don't these things sort of lose
their--Isn't there a fresh date on some of these debate points?"
(MSNBC's Chris Matthews, speaking about Howard Dean--4/9/03)



"It is amazing how thorough the victory in Iraq really was in the
broadest context..... And the silence, I think, is that it's clear that
nobody can do anything about it. There isn't anybody who can stop him.
The Democrats can't oppose--cannot oppose him politically."
(Washington Post reporter Jeff Birnbaum-- Fox News Channel, 5/2/03)



"Now that the war in Iraq is all but over, should the people in
Hollywood who opposed the president admit they were wrong?"
(Fox News Channel's Alan Colmes, 4/25/03)



"I'm waiting to hear the words 'I was wrong' from some of the world's
most elite journalists, politicians and Hollywood types.... I just
wonder, who's going to be the first elitist to show the character to
say: 'Hey, America, guess what? I was wrong'? Maybe the White House
will get an apology, first, from the New York Times' Maureen Dowd. Now,
Ms. Dowd mocked the morality of this war....

"Do you all remember Scott Ritter, you know, the former chief U.N.
weapons inspector who played chief stooge for Saddam Hussein? Well, Mr.
Ritter actually told a French radio network that -- quote, "The United
States is going to leave Baghdad with its tail between its legs,
defeated." Sorry, Scott. I think you've been chasing the wrong tail,
again.

"Over the next couple of weeks when we find the chemical weapons this
guy was amassing, the fact that this war was attacked by the left and
so the right was so vindicated, I think, really means that the left is
going to have to hang its head for three or four more years."
(Fox News Channel's Dick Morris, 4/9/03)



"This has been a tough war for commentators on the American left. To
hope for defeat meant cheering for Saddam Hussein. To hope for victory
meant cheering for President Bush. The toppling of Mr. Hussein, or at
least a statue of him, has made their arguments even harder to defend.
Liberal writers for ideologically driven magazines like The Nation and
for less overtly political ones like The New Yorker did not predict a
defeat, but the terrible consequences many warned of have not happened.
Now liberal commentators must address the victory at hand and confront
an ascendant conservative juggernaut that asserts United States might
can set the world right."
(New York Times reporter David Carr, 4/16/03)



"Well, the hot story of the week is victory.... The Tommy Franks-Don
Rumsfeld battle plan, war plan, worked brilliantly, a three-week war
with mercifully few American deaths or Iraqi civilian deaths.... There
is a lot of work yet to do, but all the naysayers have been humiliated
so far.... The final word on this is, hooray."
(Fox News Channel's Morton Kondracke, 4/12/03)



"Shouldn't the prime minister and all of us who thought the
war was hasty and dangerous and wrongheaded admit that we were wrong? I
mean, with the pictures of those Iraqis dancing in the streets, hauling
down statues of Saddam Hussein and gushing their thanks to the
Americans, isn't it clear that President Bush and Britain's Tony Blair
were right all along? If we believe it's a good thing that Hussein's
regime has been dismantled, aren't we hypocritical not to acknowledge
Bush's superior judgment?... Why can't those of us who thought the war
was a bad idea (or, at any rate, a premature one) let it go now and
just join in celebrating the victory wrought by our magnificent
military forces?"
(Washington Post's William Raspberry, 4/14/03)



"This will be no war -- there will be a fairly brief and ruthless
military intervention.... The president will give an order. attack] will be rapid, accurate and dazzling.... It will be greeted by
the majority of the Iraqi people as an emancipation. And I say, bring
it on."
(Christopher Hitchens, in a 1/28/03 debate-- cited in the Observer,
3/30/03)



"Speaking to the U.N. Security Council last week, Secretary of State
Colin Powell made so strong a case that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein
is in material breach of U.N. resolutions that only the duped, the dumb
and the desperate could ignore it."
(Cal Thomas, syndicated column, 2/12/03)




Until the philosophy,
Which holds one race superior
And another inferior,
Is finally and permanently
Discredited and abandoned,
Everywhere is war.

WAR

Until there is no longer first class
Or second class citizens of any nation.
Until the color of a man's skin,
Is of no more significance than
The color of his eyes,
I've got to say "war".

WAR

That until the basic human rights,
Are equally guaranteed to all,
Without regard to race,
I'll say "war"

Until that day the dream of lasting peace,
World-citizenship and the rule of
International morality will remain
Just a fleeting illusion to be pursued,
But never obtained.
And everywhere is war.

Until the ignoble and unhappy regime
Which holds all of us through,
Child-abuse, yeah, child-abuse yeah,
Sub-human bondage has been toppled,
Utterly destroyed,
Everywhere is war.

War in the east,
War in the west,
War up north,
War down south,
There is war,
And the rumors of war.

Until that day,
the african continent will know no peace
There is no continent,
Which will know peace.

Children, children.

Fight!

We find it necessary.
We know we will win.
We have confidence in the victory
Of good over evil
Of good over evil

Fight the real enemy!

Sinaed O'Connor

[seemslikeadream]

38. ARE YA READY TO PULL OUT YET GEORGIE?

RUN THIS ONE YA COWARDS
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/seemslikeadream/103


WHAT'S IT GONNA TAKE GEORGIE?



HOW MANY MORE GEORGIE, HOW MANY MORE?

[Seabiscuit]

40. WORTHLESS WIMPS!!!

[progressivebydesign]

41. Freakin' wimps. Bush can campaign on the victims of 9/11..

he can use any imagery and use the word: terror and war over and over, and we wimp out. I'm starting to think I'd rather be a republican.. at least they have some fucking swagger. We're afraid of our own shadow... it's embarrassing.

[VegasWolf]

43. Jellyfish SPINES. The DLC will convince the public that Democrats are

too weak to be in charge of the WOT. Can't enven stand up for a commercial. JayzUS.

[Triana]

47. Why the Hell did they pull it?

There was nothing wrong with it. Sheeeeeeeeeeeeesh!

[Ian David]

49. Why should we have to PAY for an ad that the Repukes, and YouTube...

and the M$M are now distributing for us... for free?

We made the ad.

We got unprecedented traffic.

We got thousands of new sign-ups and donations.

And now the Repukes' manufactured outrage is spreading the ad for us... free of charge!

We can declare victory and declare, "Mission Accomplished."

[JackDragna]

54. I am so tired of the "don't offend middle America" attitude..

..of this party. It is precisely because we don't do enough of this in-your-face style of campaigning that the Republicans can take the initiative from us. We try to play nice, while they play dirty, slander us and we spend all our time on our heels, letting the Republicans define us. We should be running ads in states with close Senate and House elections showing Ann Coulter's hateful words and tying them to Republicans, pointing out the folly of the war and tying people to Bush and Cheney.

[Danieljay]

55. The party without a spine. Republicans win again and control the message.

I'm beginning to resent the Democratic party as much as I do the Republicans. There is NOTHING offensive about this ad. It shows the reality of what this country is facing, dead soldiers included. George Bush and his idiocy has brought us to the brink of WWIII and the Dems are concerned with offending people?

Give me a flippin break.

[Voltaire99]

61. Agreed.

I've long felt that very resentment. Indeed, I may resent the appeasers even more than the tyrants: our party, after all, should know better, and what's more, under a duopoly system there is only one putative opposition.

[RummyTheDummy]

57. It bothers me that they pulled it but....

It's worth noting that in 2004, Bush had a commercial with some 9-11 imagery on it that was also pulled. Or maybe it was an RNC commercial. I can't remember.

[Voltaire99]

60. As John Kerry might say, "I ran that ad--before I pulled it!"

Wimps. Alas, you're always going to see this kind of Democratic cowardice while the party is in an unprincipled hunt for the same votes as Republicans. That's what comes from trying to accomodate the same interests and positions as the enemy.

I mean, really: if you don't have the courage to advertise, how can you convince anyone you have the courage to lead?