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Youngstown TV Stations Broadcast Veterans' Attack Ad
By Andrea WoodYOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- The Mahoning Valley is one of just seven television markets in the country where a highly controversial ad that accuses John Kerry of lying about his Vietnam war record will be broadcast this weekend. The ad, paid for by a group that calls itself Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, claims the Democratic presidential nominee (and nine of his Vietnam crew mates) fabricated stories to secure his medals for bravery -- and then betrayed everyone who served in Vietnam by opposing the war after he returned home. The Kerry campaign and the Democratic National Committee urged Youngstown TV stations not to run the ad, stating it is an "inflammatory, outrageous lie." But the Swift Boat Veterans beat them to the punch by supplying local stations with more than 40 pages of affidavits and other documents."It's a shame that things get this ugly but that's the nature of the beast," said Dave Trabert, general manager of WYTV. About $15,000 worth of TV spots -- a relatively small buy -- will be broadcast locally, The Business Journal estimates. The 60-second ad, scheduled for broadcast on Youngstown's four commercial TV stations, began appearing on yesterday's newscasts and will run on certain news and public affairs programs through Monday. The Swift Boat Veterans bought $156,000 worth of advertising time in seven TV markets, including Toledo and cities in West Virginia and Wisconsin, reports The New York Times. But the relatively few times the ad actually will be seen is dwarfed by the spin factor, which is why the newspaper says it's considered a "vanity buy intended to attract news coverage."In the last 24 hours, the ad has served up fresh red meat for local and national radio talk shows, cable shouting matches, newspaper stories (including this report), and spirited arguments among partisans. How John and Jane Citizen will react to the well-produced attack can only be imagined.Employing John Kerry's running mate, John Edwards, to set the stage -- "If you have any question about what John Kerry is made of, just spend three minutes with the men who served with him," Edwards says to open the spot -- the ad presents 13 Vietnam veterans who claim personal knowledge that Kerry and his Swift Boat crew lied about his Vietnam heroics.Says Louis Letson, a physician: "I know John Kerry is lying abut his first Purple Heart because I treated him for that injury."Says Van O'Dell, a retired Navy enlisted man: "John Kerry lied to get his Bronze Star. I know. I was there. I saw what happened."None of the 13 veterans appearing in the ad actually served in the same swift boat that Kerry commanded in Vietnam and their statements contradict the testimony of veterans who did. Moreover, the doctor who claimed to treat Kerry did not sign his medical records and only came forward with his allegations last year, according to the Kerry campaign. In a letter to TV station managers urging them to refuse the advertisement, lawyers for Kerry and the Democratic National Committee stated, "The statements made by the phony 'crew mates' and 'doctor' who appear in the advertisement are totally, demonstrably and unequivocally false and libelous."The letter points out that television stations, licensed to do business by the Federal Communications Commission, have an "overriding duty to protect the public from false, misleading or deceptive advertising." Because stations have the right to refuse the ad, "your station is responsible for the false and libelous charges made by this sponsor," the letter warned.Youngstown TV executives say they are in no position to judge the ad's veracity. "It's not uncommon to get differing opinions from opposing parties about who's saying what," said WYTV's Trabert. "In this case, we do have a great deal of documentation to support the ad, but absent that, it would be a different story."Trabert said he received legal advice before accepting the ad. WKBN-TV personnel say they had discussions with an employee of WFMJ-TV regarding the ad, and both stations separately determined they would broadcast the spot.Swift Boat Veterans for Truth is a political advocacy group whose primary donor is a Houston developer who gives generously to many Republican campaigns, according to news accounts.One of the group's leaders is John E. O'Neill, a Vietnam veteran recruited by the Nixon White House in 1971 to challenge Kerry when he was speaking out against the war. O'Neill is the author of a new book, Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry, published by Regnery Publishing. Regnery has printed numerous books attacking Bill and Hillary Clinton, Jimmy Carter and others demonized by conservative authors.The charges made by the Swift Boat Veterans first surfaced in 1996 when Kerry narrowly survived a re-election challenge from William Weld, then the governor of Massachusetts. At that time, they were extensively investigated -- and refuted -- by The Boston Globe, said commentator Mike Barnicle last night on an MSNBC program. "This is not an ad, it's political pornography," he observed.This spring Republicans urged television stations to refuse political ads from MoveOn.org and the Media Fund, pressure groups whose spots attacking George W. Bush also went over the line, the GOP's lawyers argued in attempting to thwart their broadcast.Since March, MoveOn.org and the Media Fund have purchased at least 10 times more spots in the Youngstown TV market than the Swift Boat Veterans, according to market estimates based on figures supplied by WKBN and WYTV. One of the MoveOn spots showed a black hood over the Statue of Liberty, WYTV's Trabert notes, which similarly produced controversy. "People find ways to make their points, and it puts you in a position to either run all the ads, assuming they have some documentation, or none. It's the nature of political advertising, and both parties do it," he says.The Republican Party is distancing itself from the Swift Boat Veterans group, as has the Democratic Party from MoveOn.org and the Media Fund. In order to comply with new campaign finance laws, pressure groups must have no direct ties to a candidate or a political party. Operatives for all three groups were active in conservative and liberal political activities during previous elections. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz), a former prisoner of war in Vietnam, issued a statement Thursday calling the Swift Boat ad "dishonest and dishonorable...It was the same kind of deal that was pulled on me," he told the Associated Press.The Swift Boat ad was produced by the political advertising firm also responsible for producing attack ads that questioned McCain's military service when he was running against Bush in 2000.McCain called on the White House to repudiate the ad and the veterans group that produced it.In Friday's edition of The Boston Globe, one of veterans who signed an affadavit supporting the Swift Boat Veterans ad recanted his testimony. "Lieutenant Commander George Elliott said in an interview that he had made a 'terrible mistake' in signing an affidavit that suggests Kerry did not deserve the Silver Star -- one of the main allegations in the book," the Globe reported.O'Neill's book is scheduled to be released next week. SEE SWIFT BOAT AD at www.swiftvets.com"