The other day I posted the latest ad on behalf of Al Franken’s Minnesota Senate bid. The ad is here. First let me say that the loss of a child is a tragedy — no less so if the child is a full-grown man who’s decided to re-enlist in the military over a span of several decades. Upon further review however, there are several reasons this ad is even dirtier and more misleading than it first appeared:
- The ad is funded by the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee, which is directed by Charlie Schumer (D-NY) — who voted to authorize the Iraq war. Norm Coleman (R-MN) had not yet been elected to the Senate, and so did not vote on the war. Surely Schumer is at least as ‘culpable’ as Coleman.
- While the ad doesn’t cite any specific votes, it says that Norm Coleman voted to extend the war ‘time after time.’ There were no votes in the Senate on a date certain for withdrawal until after the death of Stuart Anderson (January, 2006). Hence there was no way a vote by Norm Coleman could have prevented his loss.
- Lastly, it might be worth noting that Claremont Anderson is the associate county chair for the Democratic party in the county where he resides.
That last point would only be significant if you war and peace as partisan issues, of course.
