On the heels of reports that the American Future Fund is launching an anti-Hagel ad campaign, another conservative group has announced it will also run ads opposing the Secretary of Defense nominee. Americans for a Strong Defense, a newly formed group led by former Romney aides, says it will specifically target vulnerable Senate Democrats. Politico reports:
A group of Republican strategists is forming a new outside group aimed at thwarting Sen. Chuck Hagel’s nomination as defense secretary, with a plan to air TV ads and to have people on the ground in the states of key senators to apply pressure in advance of his confirmation hearing.
Americans for a Strong Defense will be the latest group to hit Hagel from the right. As POLITICO reported yesterday, the well-funded American Future Fund is launching a multistate ad campaign against Hagel, and the William Kristol-founded Emergency Committee for Israel has already aired cable ads in Washington arguing the former Nebraska senator is weak on Iran and in his support for Israel. …
The group’s officials acknowledged that Hagel is a Vietnam veteran and war hero, but made clear they will paint him as “outside the mainstream” on key defense issues.
Among the senators the group will pressure to oppose Hagel are Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Kay Hagan of North Carolina. All of those Democrats are up for reelection in 2014.
One of the board members of the new group is Mauricio Claver-Carone, executive director of Cuba Democracy Advocates. Claver-Carone is a registered lobbyist who has opposed efforts to lift U.S. sanctions against Cuba. While Hagel’s Israel record has already received plenty of media attention, his support for engagement with the Cuban dictatorship has unfortunately received far less coverage. The Politico story doesn’t say whether this group will focus on that issue, but that’s what Claver-Carone’s role seems to indicate.
Hagel’s positions on Cuba likely concern some key Senate Democrats, including Sen. Bob Menendez, who could become a major obstacle for the White House if he decides to oppose Hagel’s nomination.
who is funding the AFF?
It appears to be a 501(c)(4) that doesn't have to disclose that information.
… group led by former Romney aides… n nI just spit up a little bit in my mouth.
What the Israel Lobby has done is rung the church bell with all their might, and they have managed to wake up the entire community who has come running out and found that they don't want Hagel as Secretary of State either. For a variety of reasons — a lot having absolutely nothing to do with Israel. n nCuba is a hot button issue for some — this isn't Zionist manipulation but a real issue for some people and as Ms. Goodman points out, for some key Democrats as well. National defense, American Military Superiority, is for others — and as Caroline Glick pointed out in her recent column, Hagel is more about destroying that then anything relating to Israel. n
"this isn't Zionist manipulation" nI believe you, but don't expect that to believed in the conspiracy ridden fever swamps.
“What the Israel Lobby has done is rung the church bell with all their might” n nI think you deserve an extra 10 points for a most astounding mixed metaphor. n
As the vampire said, "Svet gurnisht hilfen."
Yeah, I saw Fearless Vampire Killers, too. There's nothing as funny as a Jew-hater trying to use Yiddish. n nWell, actually there are quite a few things funnier.
what a strange obsession for attack ads. n notoh, someone is going to get high viewer ratings for the Hagel confirmation hearings. I wonder if he'll have Susan Eisenhower sitting behind him. Lugar, Hagel, S Eisenhower, and Sam Nunn are all Obama's nuclear non-proliferation friends.
Well, you have the sharp strategists of the Romney campaign on board. What could go wrong?
lol
Hagel is a homophobic anti-Semite. Therefore, he will fit in well with my "administration"! And, if any Senator tries to block this nomination, I'll tell my wife ("Michelle") to sit on him. With her big fat-a$$ in play, that could be a killer!
he also eats pitas made with the blood of Jewish virgins. take your self-abuse elsewhere
If 1/10 of that stuff is real and Hagel can be tied to it as a Ploughshares board member, and if it gets the attention it deserves, then Hagel ought to be toast. I wish I had more faith in the process to see to it that it got that attention. IPS, Code Pink, U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation – those not "liberal," they are truly Leftist, if not radical Leftist, organizations.
With friends like Soros and the FF IL needs no more enemies. nThe EU (no AIPAC in the EU) may try to do the job for the US. nWho is really pro-War?
LINKS to them??? n n nwhat is that supposed to mean? n nam I to think that you're a McCarthyite smear merchant? I 1/10th believe that at this point. n n n——- n n nnothing to say concerning Reagan and no more nukes? nI'll take that as a tacit admission that you've abandoning the nonsense that desiring an end to them is not a fully-respectable opinion.= n n——- n n n
So you have no problem with the likes of the Institute for Policy Studies, Code Pink, and the U.S. Committee to End the Israeli Occupation, and thus you don't see "partnerships" with them as a concern when it comes to a nominee for Secretary of Defense. That tells us all we need to know about you, and now this conversation is over. n n["nothing to say concerning Reagan and no more nukes? nI'll take that as a tacit admission that you've abandoning the nonsense that desiring an end to them is not a fully-respectable opinion.= " We'll take that "argument" as an explicit admission that you are a fool of the sort one might see at an ANSWER rally.] n n
I have many problems with them but Hagel isn't them. n nyou' fling turds but have no substance. n nput something up that shows Hagel saying and doing things and stop the guilt by UNPROVEN and VAPOROUS association. n nput up or…. n n