This is my first diary..be nice! My name is Kirsten Powers and I have blog at
powers.point.com.
One of the best Democratic candidates for Congress is being smeared by her Republican opponent. Rather than responding to Kirsten Gillibrand's repeated requests to hold a debate on Iraq, Republican Congressman John Sweeney released an attack ad today falsely calling Gillibrand "a war profiteer...helped by Washington groups...bashing America." The ad claims she owns "war stock that has tripled as young American men and women fight for freedom."
Based purely on the incredible strength of Gillibrand's candidacy (she's gone from zero to 52% name recognition since she started running), New York's 20th Congressional District has been identified by the DCCC as one of the key opportunities for a Democratic pickup this year.
First the facts:
The "Washington groups" mentioned in the ad appears to refer to MoveOn.org, which has targeted New York's 20th District as part of its national "Caught Red Handed" campaign. As Sweeney well knows, Gillibrand is barred, by law, from coordinating -- or even talking to -- MoveOn.org. So, Sweeney knows that Gillibrand has zero control over any ads that MoveOn.org runs. To suggest otherwise is a blatant lie.
The "war profiteering" accusation is completely made up and is a clear sign that Sweeney is desperately grasping for something to distract voters from the fact that he has been an unapologetic cheerleader of the war, failing to provide any responsible oversight.
In terms of the specifics of the "war profiteering" claim, as is usually the case, the truth is far less sexy than the smear. According to Gillibrand's campaign, Gillibrand's husband, Jonathan Gillibrand, worked for British Aerospace for 10 years as an engineering apprentice on the company's factory floor. He assisted in the assembly of wings for the commercial aircraft division of the civilaerospace group. Mr. Gillibrand opted into a voluntary save-as-you-earn system that is similar to a 401K plan. He left the firm in 1998 (which as most people know is long before the Iraq war started). There have not been any additional contributions to his retirement plan in BAE since 1998. The company has since merged with a U.S. defense company and is now known as BAE.
Sound like "war profiteering" to you?
And then there is the claim by Sweeney that the "stock has tripled." It may have tripled since the war in Iraq started -- something Mr. Gillibrand had nothing to do with -- but the stock is worth less today than in 1998 when Mr. Gillibrand left the company.
Finally, the "bashing America" claim is just blatant lying. Gillibrand has never "bashed America," nor does Sweeney provide any evidence that she has.
In addition to this attack ad being completely untrue, Sweeney's accusations are particularly bizarre considering that his campaign has pocketed over $100,000 from corporations directly involved in the Iraq war. See below (see Opensecrets.org ):
SWEENEY TOTAL DEFENSE CAMPAIGN MONEY RAISED: $44,500
BAE 4,000
Northrop Grumman 6,000
Gencorp 1,500
General Dynamics 13,000
L-3 1,000
Lockheed 13,500
Par Technology 2,500
Science Applications International 2,500
United Technologies 2,000
SWEENEY TOTAL IRAQ CONTRACT CAMPAIGN MONEY RAISED: $59,973
Bechtel 1,000
GE 36,500
Halliburton 2,000
Motorola 11,000
Parsons 1,000
Science Applications International 1,000
Washington Group International 7,473
SWEENEY BAE CAMPAIGN MONEY:
$1,000 3/25/2003
$1,000 10/4/2004
$1,000 3/11/2005
$1,000 8/29/2005
And to top it all off, according to FEC filings, Sweeney's wife is pocketing a percentage of funds raised as a political consultant to the campaign -- roughly $75,000 to date. So, she and her husband are literally profiting off the Iraq war. (Note the money Sweeney has received from BAE).
Gillibrand's latest poll has her within striking distance of beating Sweeney, showing Sweeney's at 47%, and Gillibrand at 39%. She's raised an impressive $1.4 million and her favorability and familiarity ratings have more than doubled since the Global Strategy Group's last poll in May. Conversely, with less than 50% of the vote, Sweeney's unfavorable rating has increased to 32%, and 41% of voters want to replace him as their Congressman.
The Sweeney campaign has refused to debate Gillibrand, resorting to nasty ads and snarky comments like this:
"Conversations at 5th Avenue Cocktail parties regarding the color of one's designer hand bag and implementing military tactical decisions are worlds apart. Gillibrand would not know the muzzle of a rifle from the butt."
But if Sweeney is such a military expert, then why does he believe "we have an exit strategy" in Iraq ( Times Union, 11/29/2005)? Or is he in on some secret? If so, he should share.