SwiftVets.com

[gocars]

I spoke with Dexter's office this morning and he has given us permission to use the ad in it's entirety. I was also given the POC at the publication office of the Times whom I have just spoken to. These are the details:

The original ad of 6 Sep '04 ran in 4 publications: Army Times, Air Force Times, Navy Times and Marine Times. The cost was a discounted $13,700 and the Times would honor that price for a re-run of the ad. The rate for running the ad in just the Army Times would be $12,000 so it's a no brainer that for an additional $1,700 we could run the ad in all 4 publications. The deadline for ads is every Friday for publication 10 days hence. If we really want to entertain doing this we have to mobilize in a hurry.

gocars
101st Airborne
'Nam 67-70
U.S. Army Rangers Lead the Way!

[lthrneck]

Wow, that's outrageous. You would think the Military would post that up for free. His letter was good but I hate to say it and this is my own personal opinion (yea, I know everyone's got one) but the money would be better spent with the swifboat ads.
_________________
"Old Breed, New Breed, There's not a DAMM bit of
difference so long as it's the MARINE Breed"
- Lt. Gen Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller

Semper fi
uuurah
Carry On!!

[Navy_Navy_Navy]

It looks like the military is going to go for Kerry at about 20-30%, so just from a practical perspective, repeating the ad would seem to be a case of preaching to the choir.

Repeating Mr. Lehtinen's letter on blogs and web sites has more of a chance to reach someone who has not "seen the light" than repeating it in the military newspapers, where most people have already seen it and are going to vote against Kerry, anyway.

It's kind of like the strategy of concentrating ads against Kerry in the swing states and states where there's a chance that some could be converted to the light side.

JMO. If you guys decide you want to do this, could I suggest that you put the ad instead, into newspapers in the battleground states?

New Jersey, for instance? It's now a battleground! Who'd'a thunk it???

And my state has gone "weak Kerry" to "solid Bush" over the last six months - there's hope!
_________________
~ Echo Juliet ~
Altering course to starboard - On Fire, Keep Clear
Navy woman, Navy wife, Navy mother

[Hondo]

Well, maybe repeating in the various Mil Times pubs would be preaching to the choir. However, two other questions come to mind:

1. Do you think the author would mind it running in a different national pub (less home address info, of course)?

2. Anyone know what ads in the USA Today run? (I think full page is a non-starter money wise, but a smaller one - say 1/4 page - might not be.)
_________________
"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things: the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks nothing worth a war, is worse."
-- John Stuart Mill

[gocars]

I spoke with Dexter a few minutes ago and he hasn't a problem with having the ad reproduced in any reputable publication, blog or website.

Assuming we could raise that amount of money, Dexter also pointed out that there might be a legal issue with a loose-knit group such as ours paying for ads. Since he's an attorney he gave me some brief insights as to what some pitfalls of our running these ads might be. The main point is that he personally underwrote all of the $100k that it took to run the ads in various publications. Under the right of free speech, no publication could legally deny him, as an individual, the right to pay and run these ads. We on the other hand may not have the benefit of approaching publishers asserting our collective rights of free speech. There is also an issue of our groups legal (or non-legal) status as a PAC of sorts.

The concern raised about return on investment is a cogent one; I agree that whatever money might be available is better spent on Swiftboat ads. Bottom line is that it will probably be more effective if we all endeavor to post that ad to as many forums and websites as possible.

Dexter is one of the most impressive persons I've ever had the pleasure of speaking to. He obviously shares our sentiments and opinions and is willing to put his money where it will do the most good. He is a true patriot and a real down-to-earth guy.

gocars
101st Airborne
'Nam 67-70
U.S. Army Rangers Lead the Way!

[lthrneck]

Good job on point there gocars. I think supporting the SwiftBoat ads and passing his message around the web is a good way to go also. Man I didn't realize advertising was so expensive.
_________________
"Old Breed, New Breed, There's not a DAMM bit of
difference so long as it's the MARINE Breed"
- Lt. Gen Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller

Semper fi
uuurah
Carry On!!