Campaign ad with military service ruled OK

Campaign ad with military service ruled OK
By Julie Carr Smyth - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Aug 28, 2008 18:20:12 EDT

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A Republican running for a key central Ohio congressional seat had military officials review his new television ad to make sure it doesn’t violate regulations that discourage candidates from touting their service, a campaign spokesman said.

State Sen. Steve Stivers, a member of the Army National Guard, is seeking to replace retiring Republican Rep. Deborah Pryce in one of the most closely watched congressional races in the country.

The 30-second ad, airing widely in central Ohio, includes four images of Stivers in uniform and boasts of him being deployed to the Persian Gulf, leading and reassuring troops, and earning the Bronze Star. All three people who speak for Stivers in the ad, titled “True Example,” address his military record, as does the narrator.

Two images also show Stivers in civilian clothes working at the Statehouse.

Department of Defense regulations, which generally discourage candidates using their service for political gain, prohibit photographs or drawings of a soldier in uniform as the “primary graphic representation” in any campaign ad, billboard, brochure, flyer, Web site, or TV commercial.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/08/ap_houserace_082808/%2e

(okay, probably not ... but it sure seems like it ...)

vs. how many disillusioned Dem candidates?