Jean Schmidt: Start to Finish
In the four years following September 11, anyone questioning President Bush's plan to win the "war on terror," or seperately in Iraq, found themselves branded as unpatriotic, unsupportive of the troops, an out-of-touch liberal, and even weak on defense. While the Bush Adminstration cavalierly sent the brave men and women to fight in Iraq without adequate intelligence and an always shifting rationalization for war, to any potential dissenters the message was clear: don't question, clap louder.
And they got away with it. For four years.
Senator Max Cleland, who literally left limbs on the battlefield, was smeared as weak on defense for failing to blindly support anti-union provisions in the creation of the Homeland Security Department; never mind the fact that President Bush himself was vehemently against the cabinet-level position to start. Senator John Kerry had his service called into question for failing to "clap louder" as President Bush sent the military into battle without the necessary equipment to keep them safe.
And so it was until November 18, 2005.
He also asked me to send Congressman Murtha a message, that cowards cut and run, Marines never do.
This wasn't the first time Jean Schmidt or those associated with her have questioned the service of a combat Marine. It was only three months earlier that an advisor to her campaign had done the same to Major Paul Hackett during a special election in Southwest Ohio. This was, however, the first time that Democratic legislators, the Democratic Party, and the emerging grassroots that will carry us into the future, effectively turned back the tried and true Republican attacks on the patriotism of those that dare do anything but "clap louder."
At the same time hisses and boos from the floor of the House echoed across the nation, the DNC decided something had to be done. A message had to be sent to individuals like Jean Schmidt who attack the service of military men disagreeing with her point of view while hiding behind the troops serving in an attempt to deflect reasonable criticism and questions from those who do not simply "clap louder."
A press release. Send out the surrogates. A mass email. A billboard. What? A Billboard? Yes, right in her home state. Right outside of her district headquarters. You want to smear a decorated combat veteran like Congressman Murtha? Fine. We'll take the fight right into your backyard. Fifty State Strategy.
The grassroots responded to the idea...overwhelmingly. Within 48 hours the billboard design was completed, contracts between the DNC and Lamar advertising were signed, and over seven thousand Americans contributed to get two billboards placed in Jean Schmidt's district. The first to go within 1 block of her Pourtsmouth district office, the second in the largest city in Ohio's 2nd Congressional District, Cincinnati.
Not only were a set of billboards about to go up, but the tireless DNC communication staff was generating earned media behind the effort both in Ohio and nationally.
It's been 10 days since Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean pledged that his party would stand strongly behind Rep. John P. Murtha in the wake of the Pennsylvania Democrat's emotional outburst over progress with the Iraqi war.Now, Tom McMahon, the DNC's executive director, says, "From this day forward, the Democratic Party will commit to putting up a 'Shame on You' billboard in the home district of any Republican who attacks a veteran's service in order to score political points."
He says the first billboard will go up near Rep. Jean Schmidt's district office in Portsmouth, Ohio.
Then the phone call came. It was a representative from Lamar advertising telling us, "I don't like negative advertising." And with that, the Cincinnati billboard was killed. Then another phone call. This time it was the Lamar representative overseeing the Portsmouth billboard. Again...negative advertising.
The grassroots sprung to action once again. Phone calls and emails placed to Lamar acknowledged they hadn't handled this situation as well as they should have. A model of distributed research rarely practiced by large DC organizations yielded information about Lamar's political action committee that contributed significantly more money to Republicans than Democrats. The media, again, picked up the story:
An advertising company that gives most of its political donations to Republicans blocked the Democratic National Committee from putting up billboards criticizing Rep. Jean Schmidt, R-Ohio.Lamar Advertising Co. of Baton Rouge, La., refused to put up two billboards in Portsmouth, Ohio, and another in Cincinnati with a picture of Schmidt and the following message: "Shame on you, Jean Schmidt: Stop attacking veterans. Keep your eye on the ball -- we need a real plan for Iraq."
Malia Rulon appearing in the district's largest newspaper, The Cincinnati Enquirer told it this way:
After Lamar rejected the ads, DNC Executive Director Tom McMahon e-mailed supporters asking them to sign a letter that the party sent Friday afternoon to the company, asking it to reconsider."Lamar's conduct in this instance raises serious questions about whether the company is unlawfully or improperly using corporate resources to favor or benefit the Republican Party or Rep. Schmidt," said the letter, which was signed by 50,000 people.
The company's political action committee - LamarPAC - has donated $229,111 to political parties or candidates since 2000 with about 62 percent going to Republican sources, including Sens. Mike DeWine, R-Cedarville, and Jim Bunning, R-Southgate.
Another grassroots Democrat in Atlanta came across a billboard in West Virginia accepted by Lamar Advertising:
Was this negative advertising in the opinion of Lamar? Apparently not.
The grassroots was outraged and the DNC listened to feedback from within the ranks. If it wasn't going to be a stationary billboard, get a mobile one and drive it throughout the entire second congressional district. Why limit it to Cincinnati and Pourtsmouth? Done. If we are going to be turned back by Lamar, why limit it to billboards? Run a series of newspaper ads in local papers informing Jean Schmidt that attacks on veterans would not stand. Done. There were many good ideas. Another was to hold an organization training inside her district, empowering individuals suffering under the national embarassment that is their congresswoman to defeat Republicans from the top of the ticket, to the bottom in 2006. That's right on message, compete everywhere, even in the "reddest" of "red" areas. And the DNC agreed to that as well, and will be sposoring a training early in 2006.
Then papers were finalized, contracts signed, and two days ago the mobile billboard rolled into Jean Schmidt's district. The driver reported in:
After a journey beginning in North Carolina, we are happy to report that minutes ago, your mobile billboard has entered Ohio's 2nd Congressional District... a full one day early.We just received a phone call from the driver of the truck and he was happy to report that, "people are staring and pointing wherever it goes."
Then the billboard made its way to Cincinnati for a press conference flanked by State Representative and Iraq Veteran John Boccieri. At the same time, the earned media ratcheted up again.
Democrats had originally planned two billboards critical of Rep. Jean Schmidt at each end of her southern Ohio congressional district, but Thursday they launched a "billboard on wheels'' that will cover all seven counties of the district.As freezing rain fell on the parking lot of Blue Ash's Veterans Park early Thursday, about a dozen Democrats gathered to watch as a truck hauling a 20-by-10 foot advertising sign took off on a nine-day tour of Schmidt's sprawling district.
Meanwhile, local television station WKRC ran a poll, asking viewers if the billboard was an important message or political propaganda. Southwest Ohioans responded overwhelmingly on the side of the troops.
How do you view the new billboard on Jean Schmidt?Important Message: 77.8%
Political Propaganda: 22.2%
And that's where we are today. From start to finish a successful collaboration between the grassroots and the national party. The first of many more to come in the near future.
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