VoteVets.org

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - Cite This Source

VoteVets.org has both a political action committee (PAC) and non-profit 501(c)(4). It was co-founded in 2006 by Jon Soltz and Jeremy Broussard. Initially composed of United States Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans, the organization views defense policy as an American priority. The stated goal of the PAC is to put in Congress Afghanistan or Iraq war veterans who are critical of the execution of the war in Iraq. According to VoteVets.org, the goal of the 501(c)(4) is to educate the American public on the war and military issues, and hold politicians accountable. In February 2007, The Washington Post reported that VoteVets.org had grown to 20,000 members, including 1,000 veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

VoteVets.org PAC in the 2006 Elections

During the United States 2006 election cycle, VoteVets.org PAC spent between $1.2 and $2 million (sources differ) trying to influence the outcomes of various congressional races. Senators targeted by the VoteVets' campaign for their support of the Iraq War include: George Allen, Rick Santorum, Conrad Burns, and Jim Talent. For each congressional campaign, they released a television advertisement criticizing the (now former) senators for their vote against body armor for US troops in 2003. VoteVets claim was based, in part, on the Republican senators' vote against an amendment offered by Democratic Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu, in 2003, to boost National Guard and Reserves equipment funding by $1 billion. The group FactCheck.org (a self-described non-partisan project of the Annenberg Center at the University of Pennsylvania) stated that the ad was misleading because the 2003 Senate budget amendment (on which the criticism was based) made no specific reference to "body armor". However, a self-described progressive watchdog group, Media Matters for America, repeatedly pointed out what it said were "misleading" statements about the ads by FactCheck.org.

The group also ran ads targeting now-former Representatives Melissa Hart, Gil Gutknecht, John Sweeney, as well as Reps. John Doolittle and Jon Porter. In that ad, an Iraq veteran, Tomas Young, who was paralyzed in Iraq, criticized the members of Congress for voting against increases in funding for veterans’ health care, while, in some cases, voting themselves a pay raise.

The group also made a number of contributions to candidates, but only to those candidates who served during the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan. In 2006, out of all the Iraq or Afghanistan veterans running for Congress, VoteVets.org supported all but one of them, who declined their endorsement (Van Taylor, Republican in Texas). Those endorsed candidates were: Patrick Murphy (D-PA), Joe Sestak (D-PA), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Sam Schultz (R-IN), Andrew Duck (D-MD), and David Harris (D-TX). The group also supported Tim Walz (D-MN), and Chris Carney (D-PA). Murphy, Sestak, Walz, and Carney were all elected to Congress, and VoteVets.org’s site indicates they have been endorsed for their 2008 reelection

VoteVets.org Action Fund

VoteVets.org Action Fund, the group’s non-profit wing, has also been active in the paid airwaves. The first ad generated by the action fund was an ad critical of then-Democratic Senator Joe Lieberman, for “failing to ask the tough questions” on the war, as the group said. The group ran a newspaper ad and radio ad, featuring Jeremy Broussard, in Connecticut. The Action Fund also commissioned a 2006 poll, conducted by pollster Celinda Lake, of troops who had returned from Iraq. That poll found many troops did not feel they were given what they needed to succeed in Iraq, and even more had faced medical, mental, and financial hardship when they returned home. The action fund ran a television ad that gained national prominence titled, “Because of Iraq.” That ad was notable because it included the image of another television ad, featuring Osama bin Laden, produced by the Republican National Committee, commonly referred to as the “ticking time bomb” ad. The ad from VoteVets begins with a series of veterans of the war explaining what they felt was a negative impact of the war in Iraq. For example, one veteran said, “Because of Iraq, there are more terrorists in the world.” At the end of the VoteVets ad, General Wesley Clark says, “So if you see commercials telling you to be afraid of terrorism, remember: It’s because of Iraq.” In a series of ads that may have received the most attention for the group, VoteVets.org presented three generals, two of whom were commanders on the ground in Iraq, who became critical of President Bush’s execution of the war. Those were Major General (ret.) John Batiste, Major General (ret.) Paul Eaton, and General Wesley Clark. Major General Batiste had commanded the First Infantry Division in Iraq, and Major General Eaton had been the first to be in command of rebuilding Iraqi Defense Forces after the fall of the Saddam regime. Those ads ran in the districts of Congressmen and Senators that the group felt were ready to abandon the President on the war. In fact, four targets of the ad were part of the so-called “gang of eleven” Republicans who went to the White House to complain to President Bush about the war, right after the ad aired. Though some claimed the targets of the ad were “vulnerable Republicans,” some of the targets, including Reps. Fred Upton and Mike Rogers, have easily won reelection in the past, and are considered “safe” seats.

General John Batiste video

In May 2007, retired Major General John Batiste appeared in a political video for VoteVets.org. As part of a $500,000 campaign, variations of the video were shown in a number of congressional districts and also included two other retired generals: Paul D. Eaton and Wesley K. Clark. Batiste had been an Iraq War news consultant for CBS News. However, following his appearance in the video, CBS stated that appearing in the advertisement violated their contract, and Batiste was asked to "vacate his position."

Board of Advisors

As of June 2007 from the VoteVets.org website

External links

VoteVets.org Homepage

VoteVets.org MySpace Page

VoteVets.org YouTube Page

References

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia © 2001-2006 Wikipedia contributors (Disclaimer)
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Thursday March 06, 2008 at 01:39:27 PST (GMT -0800)
View this article at Wikipedia.org - Edit this article at Wikipedia.org - Donate to the Wikimedia Foundation