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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Alighieri who wrote (180581)	1/16/2004 11:23:28 AM
From: tejek	Respond to of 1572561

Nation & World: Monday, January 12, 2004 Anti-Bush ad contest enrages Republicans By John M. Glionna Los Angeles Times SAN FRANCISCO — One ad portrays President Bush as an anti-Robin Hood who snatches from infants and old men to serve rich corporations. In another, his pre-war assertions about Iraqi President Saddam Hussein make a set of lie-detector needles go haywire. Yet another shows kids working as dishwashers, maids and garbage collectors, asking: "Guess who's going to pay off President Bush's $1 trillion deficit?" Fourteen in all, the TV spots aim to depict the anger and frustration many Democrats have toward the Bush administration. But they're not the work of any slick political-ad companies; they're finalists in a contest sponsored by MoveOn.org, a popular Internet-based political-action group. The "Bush in 30 Seconds" competition, which drew entrants ranging from home-video enthusiasts to professional filmmakers, will be judged today by a celebrity panel. Several of the top-ranked ads will be shown nationwide on cable TV during the week of Bush's State of the Union address Jan. 20. The contest spotlights the aggressive and uncharted role that special-interest groups not affiliated with either party are expected to play in the 2004 presidential campaign. Some observers say it also demonstrates how such Internet-based groups could contribute to the spread of unfiltered messages in American politics. Angry Republicans last week cried foul over the ad campaign, expressing outrage that two of 1,500 entries compared Bush and his policies to Adolf Hitler. Ed Gillespie, chairman of the Republican National Committee, characterized the two ads as "the most vile form of political hate speech." He called for an apology from contest sponsors. MoveOn.org officials agreed the ads featuring Hitler were "in poor taste," but noted that the offending spots were not selected as finalists. They also promised to improve the screening process of any future public solicitations. "The power of the Internet lies in its democratizing force. But this kind of democracy can be brilliant and it can be scary," said Tracy Westen, executive director of the Center for Governmental Studies, a Los Angeles nonprofit group that studies politics and the media. "Through the Web, millions of people can contribute to politics in ways they couldn't before. But along with the geniuses, you've also got the nuts." Democrats say the Internet ad contest tapped into a wellspring of political activism. "We've got a treasure-trove of creative ideas here," said MoveOn.org co-founder Wes Boyd of Berkeley, Calif., whose group claims more than 2 million U.S. members. "We're in touch with all of these talented, powerful, resourceful people who want to make a difference. Now we've got to decide how we unleash that resourcefulness." MoveOn.org, which started in 1998 with a plea to Congress to "move on" from its impeachment case against President Clinton, last year raised more than $10 million for Democratic causes. The group has run numerous national TV ads critical of the Bush administration. The grass-roots ad contest invited entrants to produce a 30-second spot that told "the truth about the president and his policies." Nearly 3 million votes were cast to select the finalists, organizers say. Eli Pariser, who directed the ad contest, characterized many of the 1,500 entries as "America's most political home videos." One shows a man interviewing his 90-year-old grandmother, a lifelong Republican, on why she won't vote for Bush. Another features a man named Al Keyda thrown into jail without rights or a lawyer under terms of the Patriot Act. Computer-graphics artist Nathania Vichnevsky and her partner, Rick Glumac, of the San Francisco Bay Area, used humor to reach people. They bought a Bush mask and elf outfit at a local costume store. At a cost of only $60, their ad, "Hood Robbin'," shows Bush stealing from the poor. Vichnevsky's father plays a cameo role as an elderly man who has his pockets picked by the Bush character. Glumac persuaded a friend to play a character shown in his underwear after Bush pulls off his bedroom curtain, a slap at the Patriot Act's impact on privacy. While none of the Democratic presidential candidates has responded to the GOP calls that they condemn the Hitler ads, others have fired back at Republicans for their own divisive TV spots. In 2002, for instance, GOP ads attacking Democrats in some Senate and House races included images of Saddam and Osama bin Laden. Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com