'06 ELECTION WARFARE-How Democratic Veteran candidates strategized early!

[FrenchieCat]

Swift Boating the Fighting Dems
News: How do you nail a Democrat with genuine military bona fides? The G.O.P.'s answer: Tar him for not being antiwar enough.
By Josh Harkinson

November 2, 2006
snip
Republican-led Swift Boat attacks are charting new waters this year, as heightened public disdain for the Iraq occupation sends Republicans scrambling for new ways to shoot down "fighting Democrats." Having often supported the war in its early days and waged it gun-in-hand, the 50 veterans running for Congress as Democrats aren't easily stereotyped as weak-kneed or patrician: "I mean you've got a 6-foot-1, 240-pound, red-state guy talking about how screwed up the Republicans are," notes Erick Mullen, a Democratic media consultant. "What are you going to do to that?"
snip
Stung by the Kerry campaign's inability to blunt challenges to its candidate's military credentials in 2004, Democrats have been strategizing for a while about how to counter Swift Boat-style attacks on veterans.

Last year, 23 Democratic congressional candidates who are veterans assembled in Washington to talk strategy with retired General Wesley Clark. "These candidates were not going to be surprised," says Mullen, who handles communications for Clark. Since then a passel of political groups has sprung up to defend the veterans. The Patriot Project researches anti-veteran front groups; the Democratic National Veterans and Military Families Council, a branch of the Democratic National Committee, helps plug candidates into party resources; the political action committees Band of Brothers, VoteVets, and VetPac finance ads and organize press conferences to counter attacks. "I suspect what's gonna happen is Republicans will just unleash a whole bunch of new crap starting next week," says Colonel Richard Klass, VetPAC's founder. "We will immediately zap out a press release or send someone out as a surrogate speaker to help them."
more....
http://www.motherjones.com/news/update/2006/11/swift_boat_dems.html

Groups set up to fight Swiftboat attacks against Democratic Veterans running as candidates:

http://www.patriotproject.com/
Patriot Project Mission
Freedom of speech and the right to dissent are cornerstones of our democracy.
The Patriot Project will defend any man or woman, regardless of party or affiliation, who is attacked or defamed and whose patriotism is questioned simply because they exercise their rights as Americans. This is our mission.

http://www.votevets.org/
VoteVets Mission
Founded and supported by Veterans, VoteVets.org PAC views defense policy as an American priority. The goal of the VoteVets.org PAC is to put Iraq and Afghanistan War Veterans in Congress who are critical of the execution of the war in Iraq and representative of the principles of VoteVets.org PAC in the US Congress by:

Providing their campaigns with early candidate training, financing, messaging, web and field training from the top professionals in the field
Fostering policy and message unity regarding U.S. foreign and military policy
Making direct contributions and independent expenditures to benefit their campaigns
Ensuring current members of Congress are held accountable for their votes on Iraq and Veterans’ issues by taking them to task for votes and positions that harm America, and its troops and Veterans.
Providing the credibility and support of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans community. An attack on an individual is an attack on us all. We are united in supporting our fellow veterans.

http://vetpac.org/
VETPAC's mission: To rescue
To rescue our country’s economic future from crushing national debt that will deny veterans, our families and our children, as well as all American citizens, the education, economic and employment opportunities for which veterans have served;

To rescue America’s veterans and those who currently serve in the Armed Forces, and our families, from policies that deny our guaranteed rights, and assure us the dignity and honor to which we as citizens are entitled.

To rescue our Nation's future from policies that harm U.S. national security by alienating allies, feed the hatred that breeds terrorism, and diminish U.S. power and prestige around the world;

To rescue our society from divisive social policies that undermine the unity of our Nation and the sense of shared sacrifices that have been our strength in defeating tyranny wherever found;

To rescue our civil liberties from radical policies that threaten our Constitutional rights and demean the Constitution we fought to preserve;















Alabama
2nd District: 'Chuck' Dean James

3rd District: Greg Pierce

Arkansas
3rd District: Woodrow Anderson III

Arizona
3rd District: Herbert Paine

California
2nd District: A.J. Sekhon

3rd District: Bill Durston

4th District: Charles Brown

46th District: Jim Brandt

52nd District: John Rinaldi

Colorado
5th District: Jay Fawcett

6th District: Bill Winter

Delaware
At Large District: Dennis Spivack

Florida
1st District: Joe Roberts

6th District: David Bruderly

7th District: John Chagnon

15th District: Bob Bowman

18th District: David Patlak

Georgia
1st District: Rev. Jim Nelson

Illinois
6th District: Tammy Duckworth

14th District: John Laesch

16th District: Richard Auman

17th District: Phil Hare

Indiana
3rd District: Dr. Tom Hayhurst

Kentucky
2nd District: Mike Weaver

4th District: Ken Lucas

5th District: Kenneth Stepp

Maryland
6th District: Andrew Duck

Michigan
8th District: Jim Marcinkowski

Minnesota
1st District: Tim Walz

Missouri
2nd District: George Weber

7th District: Jack Truman

9th District: Duane Burghard

New Jersey
3rd District: Richard Sexton

New York
23rd District: Bob Johnson

26th District: Jack Davis

29th District: Eric J Massa

Ohio
3rd District: J. Richard Chema

4th District: Richard Siferd

7th District: William Conner

12nd District: Robert Shamansky

Oklahoma
4th District: Hal Spake

Pennsylvania
7th District: Joe Sestak

8th District: Patrick Murphy

10th District: Chris Carney

19th District: Phillip Avillo Jr.

South Carolina
3rd District: Lee Ballenger

Tennessee
7th District: Bill Morrison

Texas
3rd District: Daniel Dodd

5th District: Charlie Thompson

6th District: David Harris

10th District: Ted Ankrum

13th District: Roger Waun

21st District: John Kenneth Courage

23rd District: Rick Balanos

Virginia
5th District: Al Weed

:patriot:

[FrenchieCat]

1. So anyways......

All that I'm pointing out is that Strategizing before the fact works.....

And Swiftboating works best when it catches those targeted unprepared.

Recall the report Commissioned by VoteVet and prepared by "third Way" (an organization poopooed by many on DU, but which was the best organization to use because of its bipartisan representation--meaning the report had to be taken seriously by the press and others) called The NeoCons by the Numbers? http://www.third-way.com/data/product/file/58/The_Neo_Con_9.5.06_final_electronic_version.pdf
The line in this report about the fact that we had made more terrorists (50,000 now) not fewer (vs. numbered 20,000 in 2002)by invading Iraq that Dems and progressives have been using as a talking point!

And what about the "don't have the right equipment" report?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061004/ts_alt_afp/usiraqafghanistanconflictveterans_061004203857


And damn Fucking straight, I'm giving credit to General Wes Clark for the fact that he was deeply involved in this endeavor from the onset..... :headbang:

[FrenchieCat]

2. Will count how many of the Veterans involved ended up winning

seats that had previously been held by Republicans AFTER the elections. I'll be interested in those numbers!

And Hell yeah, we will need this tactic again.......in 2008 as the house and many in the Senate will be up again for election-- :)

Oh, and here's the Fightin' Dems news service link! http://securingamerica.com/ccn/blog/2281

[Totally Committed]

3. Great post, Frenchie...

:hi:


TC

[FrenchieCat]

4. Hi TC! Hope all will be well on Tuesday!

Cause honey....I'm ready to win!

I can just smell it....but can't taste it till it's a "done" deal! :hi:

[FrenchieCat]

5. Ooh! Just heard that VoteVets is going after Melissa Hart

in PA-04! http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2924578

GO Vets...go get her! :patriot:

[judy from nj]

6. Great Post

I think the VoteVets ads have been some of the best I've seen this year.

[FrenchieCat]

7. add OH-2 on the list! Yes sirree!

:patriot: b]11/4/06 - Rally and press conference for Victoria Wulsin (OH-2) in Pleasant Ridge OH @ 9:30AM EST
Start: Nov 4 2006 - 9:30am
description:

Cincinnati, OH – Victoria Wulsin will be joined by retired General Wesley Clark on Saturday morning for a rally and press conference at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Hall in Pleasant Ridge. Clark, the former presidential candidate and Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, will talk about the war in Iraq and the importance of electing a Democratic Congress that will conduct real oversight of the war.

Clark and Wulsin will be joined by Tim Goodrich, executive director of the Iraqi Veterans for Progress, a political organization that advocates a new course for the war in Iraq.

Iraqi Veterans for Progress has hired an veteran of the Iraq war as a full time field coordinator for the Wulsin for Congress campaign.
Location: Veterans of Foreign Wars Hall, 6112 Montgomery Rd, Pleasant Ridge, Ohio 45213

[blm]

8. Cleland, Kerry and Clark have been nonstop about this - They learned and ADAPTED

to the reality of the corporate media.

Great post, FC.

[FrenchieCat]

9. Clark became part of the corporate media by contracting with Fox....

and goes around the Corporate media, who ignore him anyways (wonder why?) other than when he actually appears on Fox --by going to the local media and getting coverage for candidates that way.

PS. Thanks for the nice words! :hi:

[blm]

12. Always applauded Clark's move on FOX - it was a reconnaisance mission

in my view.

[dogman]

15. You think he had a plan?

More than anything Clark, is a master planner.

[blm]

16. I think he went in to get a good grip on a corporate media front for BushInc.

.

[FrenchieCat]

17. Yes, I think he had a plan....plus I don't think he could bare to just

not have a platform in which to speak the truth to those who most needed to hear it.

[Stinky The Clown]

10. Damn! That's one hell of a line-up.

That list, win, lose, or draw, points up the lie that the Dems are anti-military.

I fucking DARE the Republic Party to post their list of veteran candidates.

[FrenchieCat]

11. Like I said, we'll see what happens......but the point is

Swiftboating can be managed with the right approach, and that is important to understand.

It will make all of the difference in the world, now and in a couple of years!

[Jai4WKC08]

13. Not only planning early, but follow-thru is critical too

When Patrick Murphy came under attack, he and Clark initiated a conference call to many of the key bloggers on the left, to get the word out that Repub Fitzpatrick was lying (or more accurately, allowing a Repub operative lie for him). They also issued a formal press release right after.

PA-08: Blogger conference call with Patrick Murphy

I just got off a conference call with PA-08 Democratic candidate Patrick Murphy. As I wrote about earlier today, his opponent, freshman GOP Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick, decided to open a series of Swiftboat-style attacks on him on Friday. It appears that the Democratic Party has learned its lesson with rapid response, and tonight, the campaign sent out a notice to speak with many prominent liberal bloggers about the upcoming response. The bloggers on tonight’s call included Chris Bowers of MyDD, Huffington Post contributor Taylor Marsh, mcjoan and Armando of Daily Kos (yes, that Armando), and Susan Kreuger of Democracy Cell Project. On the other side of the phone with Patrick were Captain Koby Langley and General Wesley Clark. Under the fold, I’ll recount to the best of my knowledge the content of the call, which was all on the record.

First, it’s a pretty heady experience to say ‘hello’ and have the first voice come back being General Clark. It’s difficult to introduce oneself after that; I stated my name and introduced myself as a blogger and a current college student. “You’re not just a blogger,” Clark said. “The pen is mightier than the sword.” It’s apparent that Clark is a clear supporter of the netroots and is quite engaged in what we are doing.

Captain Langley started off by talking about what he and Patrick did while they were in Iraq. Langley had been a captain in the 82nd Airborne Division as well, and he noted that although Patrick was a JAG, due to the lack of manpower in Iraq, they were often pressed into situations totally unrelated to law. For over a month, Patrick commanded over 75 convoys with Langley, ensuring the safety of the transport and. This is not merely a job that is far from the field, as Patrick’s accusers have stated; this was a job that made them ’soft targets’, to put it in Langley’s own words. Other soldiers, whose primary task had been more legal-oriented, had been killed in Iraq before - this was dangerous work that Patrick had been involved in. Captain Langley repeatedly noted that Fitzpatrick has never been a member of the armed forces, and that it was disgraceful for him to be saying such things about Patrick, who earned a Bronze Star for his commendable service in Iraq.

General Clark was the next to speak, and you could hear the anger in his voice. He praised Patrick’s service, and although he noted that while there can be different feelings that run between different units in the army, Fitzpatrick has ‘no place in saying who’s qualified’. He said that the Swiftboating was ‘baloney’, and that we have got to stand up to it. Additionally, Clark railed against the ‘cowardice of the Bush administration and the complete corruption of the Republican Party’. He called Fitzpatrick a ‘phony patriot’, noting that he had no right to wear the American flag on his lapel after condoning such remarks. The Republicans, the general noted, ‘will destroy anything to hang on to power, even the reputation’ of a soldier who served America honorably and with distinction. He thanked all of us for being on the call, and he told us not only to raise the outrage meter on the Internet, but to also raise money for Patrick to fight back against these claims and to write letters to the Philadelphia-area papers.

Captain Langley came back and quickly noted that Fitzpatrick was having other veterans do his ‘dirty work’ for him, so as to escape blame. Patrick spoke next and stated that these were ‘baseless accusations’. Fitzpatrick, he stated was ‘putting political ambition ahead of the truth’. He pointed out the clear hypocrisy of Fitzpatrick, who had another news conference after the disparaging remarks were made to distance himself - the trademark of any Swiftboat attack by the right wing. He has released all of his Army records, unlike Kerry, and it’s clear that he has nothing to hide. It’s ridiculous, Patrick noted, that Fitzpatrick makes such claims when he has a 37% voting record on veteran’s issues, according to the Disabled Veterans of America. He implored all of us on the call to help get the truth out about his record, and that he appreciated all the help that the netroots community has given his campaign to date. With that, he opened the floor for questions from those of us present.

Questions from the bloggers

Susan Kreuger from Democracy Cell Project had the first question. She asked General Clark if such criticism of fellow soldiers would weaken our armed forces, which must work together as a team to get their jobs done. Clark stated that any criticism of one’s service was inappropriate. Even if the opposing candidate was a Republican, he said, he would respect the time that they served in their country. Soldiers ’should be proud of their service’, and it is a disservice to everyone when they are assailed for it. After answering this question, the general thanked us for our time and left, as he had to catch a flight to Iowa.

Next up, Armando (no, that’s not a typo) noted that one of the soldiers who criticized Patrick was an Air Force pilot who served from January 2006 to April 2006. The insurgents in Iraq have absolutely no air capabilities, so the job in and of itself is a lot less dangerous than guarding convey transports on the ground. Armando wanted to know if this was going to be pointed out by Patrick, who replied that it would not be. Patrick’s a nice guy, and he says that he respected the pilot’s service despite the remarks that were said of him. This is a double-edged sword - by pointing out that the pilot never saw any ground action, it could do a lot to nullify the effect his remarks may have had. However, it would also give the GOP an opening in saying that Patrick ‘attacked the troops’, or something to that effect. I’m not sure if there’s enough nuance to give enough leverage to that kind of shallow, incorrect attack, but it’s hard to say.

The next question (I don’t know who the questioner was) asked about the local coverage of the story. It was on the front page of every important local paper in Bucks County, so it is definitely going to get some play there. I did not see any editorials on the matter as I scanned them this morning, so it’s hard to say what the newspaper editorial boards will say in the next few days. However, as I had previously noted, editorials written earlier this year stated there would be no tolerance for attacks on Patrick’s service. Let’s see if that comes through.

Taylor Marsh was the next questioner; she asked if there were any plans to hit local radio. Patrick will be on NPR tomorrow, and he will continue to get his message out on the airwaves. That’s why it’s so important for us to continue to donate to his campaign - with these scurrilous attacks, it’s absolutely necessary for us to hit back as hard - and as often - as possible.

My question was about who might be coming to the district to help give Patrick support. I already had heard of potential names being raised, but I could not disclose some of them (and I believe I still can’t mention a couple of them). Bill Clinton is going to be in town for a huge rally Wednesday morning. In addition, Senator John Kerry (D-MA) will be holding a teleconference with the press on Tuesday to counter these charges, and Patrick will also be hosting another teleconference on Wednesday with Senator Barack Obama (D-IL). He has already held several debates with Fitzpatrick, and he is willing to talk about the issues anytime, anywhere - so long as personal integrity is kept intact. It’s clear that the next debate (scheduled for later this week) could be a much more bitter affair than before. Patrick has already resorted to personally appearing at Fitzpatrick’s press conferences to confront the candidate about lies, and he’s not going to take any bullshit lying down.

After that, Patrick thanked us all for being there, and Captain Langley gave us his phone number to do any follow-up that we may have about his time with Patrick in Iraq. Mike Fitzpatrick chose to mess with the wrong man, and we’re going to make him pay for it. It’s time to have representatives in Congress who respect our troops and their service, not someone who’s never worn the uniform but has the audacity to criticize someone who has put their life in danger. Let’s send this right-wing chickenhawk into early retirement.

http://www.denymyfreedom.com/2006/10/08/230/#more-230

I suspect Joe Sestak may have already had his anti-swiftboat ad in production, it went up so fast. If you haven't seen it, it's worth a look:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URoqGDU1QjM

All of which should show that our candidates can beat back the swiftboaters. It ain't easy, and won't ever be. But it helps to have a lot of people watching each other's back. Butcha know, there's no reason we can't all be watching. Someone needs to mobilize the entire base against this bullshit, and it looks like Clark and the Fighting Dems are working that way.

[FrenchieCat]

14. Great addition! And the colaborative efforts with Progressive bloggers

and sometimes be what is needed to get the Corporate media to start covering what needs to be covered....cause sometimes they don't cover press releases and press conference if they don't want to! Great advise.

And in 2008, we'll have Netrooters totally organized with the F-A-C-T-S to assist!

Consistent Planning, contigency Planning, and strategic Planning is what success is all about!

[Texas_Kat]

18. This didn't just spring up out of nowhere

Clark's always been a master strategist. Whether you see his name on any of these efforts, his fingerprints are all over them.

While the talking heads are still scratching their heads about who's winning each horserace, I am convinced there wouldn't have even BEEN a race if Clark hadn't been everywhere advising and helping these candidates.

Everyone's always talked about what a fast learner he is. That's proved to be an understatement.

[CarbonDate]

19. If even half of these Dems win....

...it will represent more than just a change in leadership in Washington. It will represent a new generation of fresh blood in the Democratic Party. And who better to take the fight forcefully to the enemy than a bunch of military veterans led by a general?

What is the current statistic on veterans in Congress, again? That's about to change.