Fight Back Preps Anti-War Blitz

LOS ANGELES The Fight Back Campaign, a new political interest group incorporated Wednesday as a 527 under the Internal Revenue Service's tax code, is preparing to launch the first of what it said will be multiple anti-war in Iraq ads. The 30-second spot breaks Monday in Madison, Wis., and Charleston, W. Va., markets the group selected for their low media costs, and the chance to have a relatively large impact on a small voting populace, said Eric Carbone, the organization's president.Creative involves a single-column scroll of casualties in the war, starting with the Afghanistan conflict, which spreads to several columns against ominous music. The copy reads: "Terrible mistakes were made. And no one in this administration has been held accountable. Over a thousand soldiers lost. And still they have no plan." The spot drives viewers to the holdthemaccountable2004.com Web site.Neither Senator Kerry nor President Bush is mentioned in the ads, which fall under a different set of Federal Election Commission rules because of the 60-day window prior to Election Day. "We made an issue ad that never references a candidate or a party intentionally so we could fund the ad with soft dollars," said Carbone, who, with a small cadre of partners, raised $20,000 for the initial buy. "We're looking to get lots of small contributions, as the Swift boat vets have, so that we can finance a second ad with hard dollars." Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, another political interest group, attacked John Kerry's service in Vietnam. The group aired its first ad in only Iowa, Wisconsin and West Virginia, but the intense media coverage that followed allowed the organization to gain national attention and helped it raise money for subsequent ads. The group launched its fourth commercial criticizing Kerry's anti-Vietnam war protests Thursday.Carbone said a second ad is already prepared, but that it references President Bush and Vice President Cheney, and must be financed through hard-money contributions. Both spots were produced and directed by Joe Slade White, East Aurora, N.Y., who earlier made commercials for the campaign of General Wesley Clark, primary candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination.Meanwhile, MoveOn PAC launched another anti-war ad yesterday. In "Quagmire," an actor portraying a solitary American soldier on a battlefield sinks into a pit, rifle above his head, as a voiceover says, "George Bush misled us into war in Iraq, sending poorly equipped soldiers into Iraq." The 30-second spot goes on to argue that the money spent on the war would be "money we need for schools and health care." After claiming the president has "no plan," the ad concludes: "George Bush got us into this quagmire. It will take a new president to get us out."

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Fight Back Preps Anti-War Blitz

Gregory Solman

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Gregory Solman