WASHINGTON - August 16 - MoveOn PAC today released a new 30-second TV spot attacking George W. Bush for failing to call on one of his major donors – a long-time associate of Karl Rove and leading Texas Republican funder – to stop the smear campaign on John Kerry’s Vietnam service being run by a group called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.

The ads, which start running in three states and nationally Tuesday, call on the President to personally denounce the ads for their false and misleading attacks on Senator Kerry – just as Senator John McCain has called on him to do.

Though the White House and the Bush-Cheney campaign deny involvement in the ads, SBVT is a clear Republican Party front. The group is funded primarily by Robert J. Perry, the largest donor to Republican causes in Texas, a long-time donor to George W. Bush, and a supporter of the political work of Karl Rove and Tom DeLay, among others.

“Karl Rove and the Republicans are up to their usual dirty tricks,” said MoveOn PAC Director Eli Pariser. “Once again, they’re funding and coordinating an outrageous smear campaign while denying their involvement and refusing to condemn it. John McCain knows what it’s like to be on the receiving end of these attacks. Tactics like these should have no place in American politics, and, with one call, George W. Bush could stop them.”

Called “Swift Response”, the 30-second ad features footage of a young George Bush in National Guard Uniform, his medical form being stamped with his failure to appear, and footage of the young John Kerry in Vietnam.

The ad will run initially for one week in each market where the SBVT ad was shown – in Toledo and Youngstown, Ohio; in Charlestown, West Virginia; and in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The nearly $200,000 buy will yield 400 Gross Rating Points (GRPs) in all four local markets.

MoveOnPAC will make the ads available to media today at http://cdn.moveonpac.org/content/video/swiftresponse.mov. Beta and VHS tapes are available by contacting Steve Smith at: SSmith@fenton.com or 202-822-5200 x243.

The script of the ad follows:

MOVEON.ORG PAC 30 SEC TV “Swift Response”

VIDEO: OPEN ON THE YOUNG GEORGE BUSH IN NATIONAL GUARD UNIFORM.

AUDIO: ANNOUNCER (VO): George Bush used his father to get into the National Guard, and…

VIDEO: CUT TO BUSH’S NATIONAL GUARD MEDICAL FORM BEING STAMPED WITH “FAILURE TO APPEAR”.

AUDIO: ANNOUNCER (VO): …when the chips were down, went missing.

VIDEO: CUT TO SHOT OF TV SHOWING “SWIFT BOAT” SPOT, THEN WORDS APPEAR ACROSS SCREEN, “FALSE ADVERTISING”.

AUDI: ANNOUNCER (VO): Now, he’s allowing false advertising that attacks John Kerry…

VIDEO: CUT TO FOOTAGE OF A YOUNG JOHN KERRY IN VIET NAM.

AUDIO: ANNOUNCER (VO): …a man who asked to go to Viet Nam and who served with dignity and heroism.

VIDEO: CUT TO HALF SCREEN PICTURE OF JOHN McCAIN. HIS WORDS APPEAR ON SCREEN NEXT TO HIS PICTURE.

AUDIO: ANNOUNCER (VO): Here’s what a true Republican war hero has to say about the anti-Kerry ad: “I think the ad is dishonest and dishonorable…I think the Bush campaign should specifically condemn the ad.”

VIDEO: CUT TO SHOT OF BUSH AND CLOSING DISCLAIMER COPY.

AUDIO: ANNOUNCER (VO): George Bush: Take that ad off the air. MoveOn PAC is responsible for the content of this advertisement.

JUST THE FACTS:

SBVT SWIFT BOAT ADS AND THE ROVE SMEAR MACHINE

FACT: "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" is a front organization for Karl Rove and the Republican party. SBVT is funded primarily by Robert J. Perry, a multimillionaire Texas businessman and the state’s leading donor to Republican candidates and causes. Campaign documents and his representatives confirm that Perry has given more money to campaigns and political organizations in the last four years than any other Texan, over $5 million to scores of political candidates, including $20,000 to Bush's two campaigns for governor in the 1990s.

FACT: SWVT in its July 15 IRS filing reports raising $158,000 in total, of which Perry donated $100,000.

FACT: Media company behind Swift Boat ads produced anti-McCain ads in 2000. Spaeth Communications, listed as SBVT’s media contact, has long and deep Republican ties. In 2000, Spaeth participated in producing ads for 'Republicans for Clean Air' which falsely attacked the environmental record of Sen. John McCain in California, New York and Ohio. The funder of that group turned out to be Sam Wyly -- another big Bush contributor and beneficiary of Bush administration decisions in Texas -- and his brother, Charles, another Bush "Pioneer" contributor."

FACT: The charges in the ad are directly contradicted by the men who were on Kerry’s boat. The former Army lieutenant whom Kerry plucked from the water, Jim Rassman, backs Kerry's account. In an August 10 opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal, Rassmann, a Republican, wrote that the ad was "launched by people without decency" who are "lying" and "should hang their heads in shame."

Some of those making the charges now are directly contradicting their own past public statements, and none of the veterans featured in the advertisements served on the river patrol boats Kerry commanded during Vietnam.

FACT: McCain Urges Bush: “Condemn this ad” … Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has called the ad campaign "dishonest and dishonorable" and urged George Bush to “specifically condemn” the ad. Regrettably, George Bush has refused to do so. Said McCain: "I can't believe the president would pull such a cheap stunt…. It was the same kind of deal that was pulled on me." Asked if the White House knew about the ad or helped find financing for it, McCain said, "I hope not, but I don't know. But I think the Bush campaign should specifically condemn the ad." So do we.

FACT: George W. Bush Has Condemned Such Smear Tactics in the Past … In 1992, George W. Bush called on Republicans to denounce a similar smear campaign against Bill Clinton. According to the 7/14/92 Washington Post, George W. Bush wrote a letter in 1992 on behalf of his father's presidential campaign to 85,697 campaign contributors condemning an operation attempting to smear Bill Clinton and encouraging them not to contribute to the effort.

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