You think she would have learned her lesson. Back in July, Jean Schmidt came within inches of suffering the most embarrassing electoral defeat in recent memory. In a congressional district Republicans routinely carry by forty percent plus, Schmidt barely eeked out a victory over Marine Corps Major Paul Hackett. I was there, and it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. Sure, momentum was building before Jean Schmidt's friend and counsel on Iraq, Eric Minamyer, shot his mouth off about Paul Hackett's service in Iraq. But from my vantage point inside campaign HQ, that was the night the tide turned completely.
Sure we'd seen it before. The Republican slime machine calling into question the courage and patriotism of Democratic servicemen like Senators Max Cleland and John Kerry. But what was done about it? A few press releases and talking heads expressing their outrage (outrage I say!) on television; "How dare they call into question this man's service!?!"
It wasn't until supporters of Jean Schmidt began to smear Paul Hackett while the dust was barely swept from his combat boots did we fight back effectively against such attacks--a lesson taught to the national party by the grassroots.
There was no press release from Washington, talking heads were not deployed to local television and radio stations. What I did see was thousands of people from inside the grassroots begin to fight back against this kind of attack. Paul's Field Director tells tales to this this day about hundreds of emails a day, many from inside Ohio, letting the campaign know they would be inside OH-2 to help in any way they could within hours. I couldn't click refresh on the ActBlue page without seeing fundraising numbers jump by the second. I witnessed reporters call candidate Schmidt on her tactics as she was essentially forced to run a campaign commercial for her opponent as the lead story on the local news.
We watched as the number of "patriotic buttons" on Jean Schmidt's stars & striped clad clothing increased as her position in the polls dwindled. We saw her campaign use servicemen as props (like Danny Bubp) at rallies. And via Crooks and Liars, we all watched her nervous breakdown on Hardball when asked if Paul Hackett started the debate on Iraq with more credibility than her because, well, because he was there!
You think Jean Schmidt would have learned her lesson. She didn't, but the Democratic Party did.
You asked what you could do to turn the heat up on Jean Schmidt and show Republicans that questioning the service of our veterans isn't fair game. One great idea that many of you suggested was placing billboards in their home districts. So, at your suggestion, here's the proposal.
From this day forward, the Democratic Party will commit to putting up a "Shame on You" billboard in the home district of any Republican who attacks a veteran's service in order to score political points. When Congresswoman Schmidt comes home for break, she will be greeted by a billboard no more than two blocks from her district office in Ohio's 2nd Congressional District. The message: "Shame on You, Jean Schmidt: Stop Attacking Veterans. Keep Your Eye on the Ball -- We Need a Real Plan for Iraq".
If you wish to help send a message to Jean Schmidt, you can contribute to the campaign by clicking here. What might be a better idea however, is if you haven't already, please make a monthly commitment to rebuilding the Democratic Party through Democracy Bonds. So far there are over 25,000 individuals pledging as little as $5 or $10 a month towards putting organizers on the ground in 42 of 50 states so far and helping campaigns in need like Tim Kaine's gubernatorial effort. Maybe today would be a good time to make your initial investment.
Tim
Update [2005-11-30 16:22:40 by ttagaris]: There is a lot of discussion in the thread about choice of picture. I just wanted to let you know that we are prohibited from using the CSPAN photo because of certain rules they have about using their stuff for promotional/advertising purposes. Also, we needed a photo with a high enough resolution to put on something the size of a billboard.