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December 16, 2003
Machinists Denounce Ad They Funded
This is classy.
Unions who funded the group that produced the Dean-Osama ads have demanded their money back.
One of the unions, the International Association of Machinists, called Tuesday for the group, Americans for Jobs, Healthcare and Progressive Values, to pull the ad and release the names of its financial backers...The Laborers union was slightly less emphatic but not happy with the ads they also funded:"The ads are despicable and we ought to ask for the refund," said Rick Sloan, a spokesman for the International Association of Machinists. "They've done more to damage Dick Gephardt than anything any of his opponents could have done or dreamed of doing."
Donald Kaniewski, political director of the Laborers union, said unions gave money to the group because "we wanted to highlight issues we think matter in this debate about who should be standard-bearer for the Democratic Party."Here is the basic principle I am happily going to support-- if you as a candidate have even a tangential connection to an "independent group" running disgusting ads, you get denounced and vilified for the ads until you as a candidate publicly and loudly condemn the ads.He said he would not have used bin Laden's photograph to raise what he says are legitimate concerns about Dean's record. He said he expressed his dismay to the group, but his complaints fell on deaf ears.
Same goes for any group that's connected to such groups as well.
So kudos to the Machinists for a strong statement-- and a tiny kudo to the Laborers for their wimpier condemnation.
Posted by Nathan at December 16, 2003 09:04 PM
