Mobile Billboard to Start Rolling in Ohio
During a debate on the House floor, Rep. Jean Schmidt called Purple Heart recipient and 37-year Marine veteran John Murtha a coward after he spoke out about the failed Republican policy in Iraq.
After 7,000 Americans came together to send Schmidt a message and to show Republicans in Washington that attacking the service of veterans for political gain will not go unchecked, billboard company Lamar Advertising - the company that owns the key real-estate in Schmidt's district - decided to reject the "Shame on You" billboard that was to go up outside of her Portsmouth office.
Upon hearing about the rejection, 100,000 of you signed a letter demanding that the billboard go up, but Lamar continued to disregard your right to be heard and still refuses to run the ad. So after listening to what you thought we should do, we've decided to purchase full-page ads in many of the newspapers in Schmidt's district, and a mobile billboard will hit the streets of Ohio's 2nd very soon.
Tom McMahon, the Executive Director here at the DNC, sent out this update on the Lamar situation...
I wanted to send you a quick update on some shocking developments in our billboard campaign in GOP Rep. Jean Schmidt's home district. As you remember, Schmidt called Purple Heart recipient and 37-year Marine veteran John Murtha a coward when he spoke the truth about the failed Republican policy in Iraq.
Over 7,000 Americans stepped forward to fund a campaign designed to show Republican leaders that there will be consequences for continuing their pattern of shamelessly attacking the service of veterans who don't share their warped view of reality.
Here's the latest: the advertising company that owns the key billboard real-estate in Schmidt's district, refused to accept the billboard criticizing the Republican Congresswoman. They made this decision more than 24 hours after signing a contract and 48 hours after receiving the artwork.
In response, more than 100,000 of you signed our letter demanding your right to be heard. Over the weekend, their manager first proposed removing the words "Shame On You", then made an equally unacceptable demand for a giant "paid for by" disclaimer, despite the fact that ours already met Federal Election Commission requirements. The DNC will never allow a corporation to determine the content of our ads.
If they had honored their obligations, there would be two billboards up right now outside Jean Schmidt's district office. They didn't, but that will not stop us from getting our message out. In fact, that message will now be amplified even louder because of their actions.
During the next week we will purchase full-page ads in local newspapers and just so everyone is sure to get the message -- a mobile billboard will hit the streets in the 2nd district.
And to gear up Democratic organization in Schmidt's district (she won her seat by just a few thousand votes), in the coming weeks we will hold a special grassroots organizer training to help local Democrats get an early start on the ground game that will be decisive in November.
This should be a warning to Republicans that shameless attacks will not be tolerated. We will respond in every state, every city and every precinct. The Democratic Party will fight for our values everywhere, and we will compete and win everywhere.
Thank you,
Tom McMahon
Executive Director
Democratic National Committee
