Is DeWine’s soldier a good soldier?

Cleveland Plain Dealer "Openers"

Film footage of a uniformed soldier with his family in a Mike DeWine reelection commercial has triggered a new accusation of unfair or improper advertising.

The image of the soldier, shown with what appears to be his wife and two daughters, comes on the screen briefly while the commercial talks about how DeWine improved benefits for military families. It is original footage; that is, it is not generic or stock imagery that anyone can buy and use. Beyond that, the DeWine campaign will not say much.

But as first reported on TPMCafe, there is a question of whether the image violates Pentagon rules. Says the Department of Defense: "The Department of Defense maintains a long-standing policy that DoD personnel acting in their official capacity (wearing their uniform) may NOT engage in activities that associate the DoD with any partisan political campaign or election, candidate, cause, or issue."

The Pentagon is looking into the matter to see if any rules were broken. As the rules are written, the soldier would be in trouble if he posed in uniform for political purposes.

The DeWine campaign, which had its ears boxed once for using an altered 9/11 image of the World Trade Center, appears to not want to get drawn into playing defense on this one.

"Soldiers have been shown in political ads forever," says DeWine campaign spokesman Brian Seitchik. "The regulation says a soldier cannot endorse, and this soldier was not asked to do an endorsement and did not do one."

LINK 

10/11/2006 / Permalink / Adwatch, (all tags)

Another Ad Blunder?  DeWine May Have Put Soldier at Risk

AMHERST, OH - The Associated Press reported last night that the Department of Defense is investigating whether a recent DeWine campaign advertisement violated military regulations by featuring a soldier in uniform.  According to the Department of Defense spokesman in the report, DoD regulations prohibit members of the armed forces from wearing their uniforms while participating in a partisan political activity.
 
DeWine has a history of bending the rules to produce attack ads that smear his opponent.  DeWine's campaign was already forced to change an earlier advertisement which doctored footage of the burning Twin Towers in an attack ad produced by the same firm that created the infamous Swift Boat ads.  In a previous campaign, a DeWine ad said that the Berlin Wall would still be standing if Senator John Glenn, who honorably served in the Korean War, had his way.
 
The incumbent Republican Senator is struggling to keep his seat in a heated campaign against Congressman Sherrod Brown (D-OH).
 
"Senator DeWine has some serious questions to answer today," said Ben LaBolt, a spokesman for Representative Brown.  "Did Senator DeWine put a soldier at risk in order to benefit the campaign?  If the DoD concludes the soldier violated military regulations by appearing in uniform in the ad, will Senator DeWine pull the ad down and take responsibility for any penalties that may befall the soldier?  This could be another egregious chapter in Mike DeWine's history of bending the rules and smearing his opponent for political gain."

10/11/2006 / Permalink / Adwatch, (all tags)

Army Eyes Soldier’s Appearance in Ad

AP via Los Angeles Times

The Army is reviewing the appearance of a soldier in uniform in a political television ad by Ohio Sen. Mike DeWine.

The soldier wears Army fatigues with "Larkin" on the name tag and stands silently for about two seconds in front of an American flag with what appears to be his wife and two young daughters.

"He fought for increased benefits for military families," the ad's announcer says of DeWine as the family is shown.

Unlike still photos of soldiers in combat earlier in the ad, this soldier appears to have been filmed specifically for the ad.

Defense Department instructions prohibit members of the armed forces from wearing their uniform while participating in partisan political activity, said department spokesman Maj. Stewart Upton.

"I have forwarded this matter over to the Army Public Affairs for review and possible comment/action," Upton said in an e-mail. "All military personnel, including National Guard and reserve forces, are prohibited from wearing military uniforms at political campaign or election events."

Army spokesman Paul Boyce said he had received the inquiry and lawyers would review it. 

10/11/2006 / Permalink / Adwatch, (all tags)

DeWine Attacks Sensenbrenner on Security

AMHERST, OH - Incumbent Republican Senator Mike DeWine has a record of failure on the Senate Intelligence Committee.  He missed nearly half of the public meetings of the Committee, voted against investigating the false intelligence that led the U.S. to war with Iraq, and has failed to offer oversight over the Bush administration's stay-the-course strategy.
 
Today, DeWine continued taking votes out of context and attacked Representative Sherrod Brown (D-OH) for voting in line with a number of defense hawks to reform our nation's intelligence system, which lacked accountability and needed reform following the Cold War.
 
Just last week, DeWine admitted to shelving for months a critical intelligence report in which 16 of the administration's intelligence agencies concluded that the war in Iraq increased the terrorist threat to our nation.  After reading the report, DeWine dismissed it as being of "no great significance," again failing to hold the administration accountable for security failures.

10/03/2006 / Permalink / Adwatch, National Security, (all tags)

New TV Spot: DeWine’s Smears, Distortions Attempt to Hide Record of Failure on Intelligence

AMHERST, OH - The Sherrod Brown for Senate campaign today announced a new television spot, "Critical," that reveals Senator DeWine's history of using smears and distortions in order to hide his record of failed oversight on the Intelligence Committee.  Senator DeWine voted to go to war with Iraq over weapons of mass destruction that weren't there, and then he voted against investigating intelligence failures and releasing a critical report to the public.  Last week, DeWine revealed that he waited months to read a critical intelligence report in which 16 of the administration's intelligence agencies concluded that the war in Iraq has increased the terrorist threat to the United States, and then he dismissed the report as nothing of "great significance" [Plain Dealer 9/28/06].
 
"Senator DeWine has a long history of using distortions and smears in order to hide his failed record," said Ben LaBolt, a spokesman for Representative Sherrod Brown (D-OH).  "Mike DeWine hired the firm that produced the Swift Boat ads to create an attack ad that distorted Sherrod Brown's voting record and the Plain Dealer said ‘sorely lack[ed] context.' DeWine accused Senator John Glenn, one of Ohio's heroes, of being a Communist sympathizer.  Senator DeWine has a record of failure on the Intelligence Committee - he voted against investigating the false intelligence that led us to war, missed nearly half of the committee's public meetings, and shelved and then dismissed a critical report which concluded the war in Iraq is increasing the terrorist threat to our nation."
 
The ad can be viewed here: http://sherrodbrown.com/pages/critical
 

10/03/2006 / Permalink / Adwatch, National Security, Veterans, (all tags)

Cleveland Plain Dealer Says the Economy is #1 in Ohio Elections.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer Says the Economy is #1 in Ohio Elections.

Even political foes agree the state's a mess

Mike DeWine has consistently voted for trade deals that sent Ohio jobs overseas.  The Plain Dealer reports in the last 6 years alone Ohio has lost 195,000 manufacturing jobs.  Good paying jobs replaced by low paying service jobs. And families are losing their homes as mortgage foreclosures rise.

As Ohio keeps losing jobs, DeWine continues to defend his job killing trade bills.

Mike DeWine-Has he been in Washington too long?

10/02/2006 / Permalink / Adwatch, (all tags)

Sherrod Brown “Went to Bat” for Our Troops

AMHERST, OH -- The Sherrod Brown for Senate Campaign today announced a new television spot in which Jan Kellar, the Litchfield mother of an Iraq soldier who went to war without body armor, tells Ohioans that Sherrod Brown went to bat for her son when Senator DeWine sent her nothing but a form letter.  After meeting with military families, Sherrod Brown voted repeatedly to provide our troops with body armor and to hold the Bush administration accountable for its failed stay-the-course Iraq strategy.
 
The spot can be viewed here: http://sherrodbrown.com/pages/went_to_bat
 
"Senator DeWine and the GOP can attempt to distort Sherrod Brown's record of supporting our troops in combat and at home, but they can't hide the fact that Mike DeWine failed Ohio families," said Ben LaBolt, a spokesman for Sherrod Brown.  "After voting to go to war with Iraq based on false intelligence, Mike DeWine stood in lock-step with the administration's failed Iraq strategy when it endangered our troops and our nation.  DeWine's failure to do what's right for Ohio families has not gone unnoticed."
 
SCRIPT - WENT TO BAT 
 
(Jan Kellar)
 
I was proud when my son went to Iraq.  Then I found out the Army didn't have enough body armor.
 
I wrote everyone I could think of.  My senator Mike DeWine sent me back a form letter that didn't even mention body armor.
 
Sherrod Brown wasn't my congressman, but he met with me and other military families, then went to bat for our troops and helped them get the equipment they needed.
 
For me, it's easy - I want a senator who cares.

(Sherrod Brown)
 
I'm Sherrod Brown - I approve this message.   

09/29/2006 / Permalink / Adwatch, National Security, Veterans, (all tags)

Ad Watch: Mike DeWine Taking Votes Out of Context

Mike DeWine is at it again - slinging mud, taking more votes out of context.

Fact is, Sherrod Brown voted $2.8 trillion in defense spending, for body armor for our troops, armored humvees, the death penalty for terrorists, for stronger intelligence, and to protect our troops from roadside bombs

And Mike DeWine?

DeWine doctored photos of 9/11 for his own political gain. DeWine missed critical meetings on the Intelligence Committee, admits he often fails to read intelligence reports.  He misled us on weapons on mass destruction and neglected to ask tough questions about Bush's post-war plan. Mike DeWine voted to give Halliburton a blank check while US troops served in Iraq without body aromor.

09/29/2006 / Permalink / Adwatch, (all tags)