Sept. 11 Families Disgusted by Bush Campaign Ads

Yahoo (Reuters) ^ | 3/4/04 | Mark Egan

[The_Victor]

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Families who lost relatives in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks voiced outrage on Thursday at President Bush (news - web sites)'s first ads of his re-election campaign that use images of the devastated World Trade Center to portray him as the right leader for tumultuous times.

"Families are enraged," said Bill Doyle, 57, of New York, who is active in several Sept. 11 family groups. "What I think is distasteful is that the president is trying to use 9/11 as a springboard for his re-election."

"It's entirely wrong. He's had 3,500 deaths on his watch, including Iraq (news - web sites)," said Doyle, whose 25-year-old son Joseph died at the trade center.

Long time Bush adviser Karen Hughes defended the four commercials -- which began running on Thursday in at least 16 important battleground states -- as "tastefully done."

"September 11 is not some distant event in the past," Hughes told ABC's "Good Morning America."

"It's a defining event for our future and important that we learn the lessons of that day. All of us feel deeply that tragedy but it's also important to recognize the impact it had on our national public policy," she said.

Two ads refer to the hijacked airliner attacks as the Bush campaign seeks to present him as a leader who rose to the challenge. One ad shows World Trade Center ruins behind an American flag. Another shows firefighters removing the flag-draped remains of a victim.

Ron Willett of Walnut Shade, Missouri, said he was disgusted when he saw the ads. Willett, who lost his 29-year-old son, John Charles, when planes hit the trade center, said he is now so upset, "I would vote for Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) before I would vote for Bush."

"I think it is an atrocity," his wife, Lucy, added. "He should not be allowed to use those images at all."

STAY AWAY FROM GROUND ZERO

With Republicans holding their political convention in New York in late August, victims said they hope Bush does not make it worse by speaking at the site now known as Ground Zero, which many view as sacred.

"If he does, there will be a protest and it could get ugly," said Doyle.

Several family members said their annoyance at Bush's using the emotional images stems in part from his refusal to testify in open session before the federal commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

"There is really a hypocrisy here. The Bush administration will not cooperate fully with the 9/11 commission and at the same time they are trying to invoke and own 9/11 and use it for his re-election," said Stephen Push from the Washington office of "Families September 11th." His wife died on the plane that crashed into the Pentagon (news - web sites) that day.

The International Association of Fire Fighters, which endorsed Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry (news - web sites), also denounced the campaign spots as "hypocrisy at its worst."

"I'm disappointed but not surprised that the president would try to trade on the heroism of those fire fighters," the union's general president, Harold Schaitberger, said.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he had not yet seen the ads but had no objections.

"I haven't a problem in reminding people in the country and the world of the sacrifices that the New York City fire department and police department and civilians made," Bloomberg said.

And not all relatives of victims were upset by the ads.

"I don't have a problem with his pointing to his leadership at that time. He helped us weather it. To me it was a tasteful ad," said Patricia Reilly, who sister Lorraine Lee died in the New York attacks. (additional reporting by Larry Fine)

[The_Victor]

Two out of probably 30,000 close friends and immediate family members and Reuters claims that "Sept 11 Families Disgusted".

"I would vote for Saddam Hussein before I would vote for Bush."

This quote says it all. It should be followed by "But since Saddam isn't running, I'll vote for the next best candidate, John F'n Kerry."

[jwalburg]

Man, if I were a 911 family, I'd want a president who would be most likely to prevent another one, not pretend the first one didn't happen!

[atomicpossum]

These people are described as being in 'organizations.' How many of these people are already incensed against Bush and weren't going to vote for him anyway? Their 'outrage' may be real, but it's nothing without context.

[KantianBurke]

"With Republicans holding their political convention in New York in late August, victims said they hope Bush does not make it worse by speaking at the site now known as Ground Zero"

Of course the President will speak there. The question is when and what will his remarks be. Here's to hoping the topic is anything BUT politics.

[jwalburg]

[Dog]

They just overreached.

I would vote for Saddam Hussein before I would vote for Bush."

They always overreach....always!

[freeperfromnj]

And I'm disgusted by the ungrateful attitudes of these families. Maybe the President should have just filed a brief like we did after the first WTC bombing. I just don't get these people.

[LiteKeeper]

Three families out of 3500 have voiced opposition to the ads...and they were probably anti-Bush before 9-11!

[jocko12]

2PEOPLE OUT OF 250MIL. SOUNDS LIKE A MAJORITY OF US.

[Loyal Buckeye]

Fortunately, all except the true believers, will see through this b.s.

[Joe Brower]

Well, seeing all the ink and airtime that this bit is being given by the leftmedia in the last 24 hours, it's pretty obvious that this is the major "issue of the week" being used by the DNC to attack the GOP. Next week's issue? Stay tuned -- I'm sure they'll have something.

Want accuracy in reporting? How about:

"Average American Families Disgusted with Liberal Whining."

[per loin]

Let's hope they wear their "Better Saddam than Bush" T-shirts to all the Kerry rallies.

[M. Peach]

Leave it up to ABC Good Morning to find these people out of the other tens of thousands who lost relatives...

[finnman69]

They find a few kooks out of thousands of families. Screw them. They should go live in Afghanistan if they don't like Bush referencing the worst attack on American soil in the nation's history. It's important and people NEED to be reminded.

[SolutionsOnly]

This will turn out much like "The Passion of the Christ".
People will want to see the ads to see what all the fuss is about - and then when they do, they'll comment on how ridiculous the Dems look trying to make something out of absolutely nothing. They've shot themselves in the foot - AGAIN! I love it.

[clintonh8r]

(additional reporting by Larry Fine)...photography by Moe and Curly....analysis and commentary by Schemp.

[BigSkyFreeper]

(additional reporting by Larry Fine)

[VOA]

Ron Willett...(snip)...said he is now so upset, "I would vote for Saddam Hussein
before I would vote for Bush."

And I'm sure that he'd vote for Bill Clinton before Dubya.
Seeing how Bill Clinton probably did even more than Saddam to assure his son's death
at the WTC.

I'm all for free speech...it just reminds me of the mentally-challenged who walk among us.
And to just work that much harder to neutralize all the damage they do to our country.

[freeperfromnj]

Fortunately, all except the true believers, will see through this b.s.

Unfortunately, this will be the top story on the local NY and NJ newscasts tonight. It will be presented in such a biased way that those who normally wouldn't believe it will be sucked in by the relentless rat talking points.

[xzins]

Reuters headline. That's all I need to know.

Find me a dozen 9/11 families that like the Bush ad, and I'll not hold my breath waitng for the Reuters headline,

"Sept. 11 Families Delighted by Bush Campaign Ads"