Republicans Ticked About Democratic Ad

A recent Democratic ad depicts the coffins of soldiers coming home from Iraq. Many Republicans are not very happy about this ad and have labeled it as "'disrespectful" toward the soldiers.

If you'll recall, President Bush approved of an ad in his (s)election year of 2004 which displayed a victim's body being removed from where the 9/11 terrorist attack took place. This angered some of the victims' families, who complained that Bush was using the victims for his own political advantage in the election year.

This recent ad run by the Democrats only appears on the Internet and along with the display of coffins, it also shows pictures of gas prices and the after-effects of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in trying to convince the viewers that this is due to a lack of leadership from the Republican party.

Tom DeLay has called the Democratic ad "an act of pathetic desperation."

A spokesman for the Republican committee, Carl Forit, had this to say in regard to the Democratic ad, "They've cited the President Bush ad showing the firefighters carrying someone away. I'm not sure how that's the same as showing a soldier who's given his life in battle in a flag-draped coffin. Nine-eleven was an event that brought people together; Democrats are trying to rip people apart. I think there's a big difference there."

It should be known that Republican strategist and ad maker, Mark McKinnon, does not agree with his fellow colleagues when it comes to the Democratic ad. He believes that neither the Republican ad in 2004 nor the Democratic one in 2006 have crossed any lines or boundaries. He said, "It (Democratic ad) reminds people of the cost of 9/11. It reminds people of the cost of war. People die in wars, and people should understand that we shouldn't hide from that fact."

Because of the Republican ad in 2004, many Democrats feel that outraged Republicans are being hypocritical for criticizing this most recent ad. A Democratic strategist, Howard Wolfson, said, "No administration in American history has so partisanized or politicized a war as this administration. They have absolutely no grounds to make any criticisms of this kind."

While I disagree with the majority of what he said, I do agree with one portion of Republican spokesman Carl Forit's statement. The two ads are very different in a way, but not in the manner that he was speaking. Republicans have control of the House, Senate, and presidency. The reasons for declaring war in Iraq have been dismissed as false. Republican President Bush put a man in charge of the Hurricane disaster whose experience in the area was nill. He was a horse trainer. Scandals and indictments have been a-ringing in the past year or so either associated with Bush's administration directly or with the Republican party, in general. The Democratic ad is displaying images that are relevant to the Republican party's control and leadership. Through this, they hope that it'll persuade voters of a change that needs to be made.

In the 2004 campaign ad, neither the Democratic or Republican party can be held responsible for the 9/11 attacks. The 9/11 attacks are an irrelevant bit of information in terms of who should be elected president. It was used as a scare tactic and the victims of that tragedy were used for Bush's own political goal of being re-(s)elected. It was not the Democrats' nor Republicans' choice for the attacks to occur. The 9/11 attacks also feel closer to home for most than the Iraq war. It was on our soil, our land. Our buildings were destroyed. Unless we have loved ones overseas, the war often times feels like just that, overseas, to us. While the coffins of soldiers in the Iraq war may sadden most of us to an extent, images from 9/11 will probably hit home more.

While both the Republicans and Democrats had similar goals in airing the ads, the Democrats used images to illustrate the Republicans' leadership. The Republican ad hoped to strike fear into the minds of Americans, so much so, that they feared the leadership of another. So, Mr. Forit is right to an extent. The ads were quite different, but I doubt in the manner in which he saw.

Link:

http://articles.news.aol.com/news/_a/ad-showing-troop-coffins-causes-clash-of/20060714074609990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001