You decide: "Midwest Heroes" or "Political Pawns"?

LEIGH POMEROY

The series of TV ads in Minnesota supporting the war in Iraq have hit a critical nerve in this Midwest state known for its "Minnesota nice." GOP operatives under the guise of a 527 nonprofit advocacy group called the Progress for America Voter Fund are throwing big bucks behind a series of ads designed to shore up sinking support of the war in what they consider to be a battleground state.

Problematic for the Republicans is the hard reality that a number of veterans are running for office in Minnesota under the Democratic banner, including Tim Walz (Congressional District 1), Andrew Borene (Senate District 41), David Francis (Senate District 52), and Jeremy Eller (Senate District 26).

Like the infamous Swiftboat Veterans ads of campaign 2004, these distort some facts so egregiously that one Minneapolis TV station, KSTP, has refused to air them. Another station that does air them, WCCO-TV, felt it necessary to broadcast a "reality check" analyzing the ad's accuracy.

Minneapolis Star Tribune columnist Nick Coleman has already weighed in twice on the issue, calling the second of the ads "not honest about a mother's grief." He writes:

The final mother figure in the ad tells the camera: "We have to finish this job to remember Erik's sacrifice, and all of the other fallen heroes." She is identified as M. J. Kesterson, and many viewers will assume she is the mother of Chief Warrant Officer Erik Kesterson, 29, a helicopter pilot killed in 2003 who figures prominently in the ad.

But she's not his mom.

M.J. Kesterson is married to Erik's father, who also appears in the ad, and she's Erik's stepmother. His mother is Dolores Kesterson, and the distinction is important because Dolores Kesterson is opposed to a war in which she believes her son died to prevent the use of weapons of mass destruction that did not exist and to avenge 9/11, which was not connected to Iraq.

Dolores is a member of Gold Star Families for Peace, of which Cindy Sheehan is the most prominent spokesperson. The MidwestHeroes.com website makes no mention of Dolores Kesterson, instead referring to M. J. Kesterson as "his mother" and Army Warrant Officer Erik Kesterson as "her son." A New York Times article states:

But even within the Kestersons' extended family, there are divisions. Dolores Kesterson, Erik's mother and Mr. Kesterson's former wife, who lives in Santa Clara, Calif., said she was plagued by her doubts about the war and what it meant about her only child's death.

"I feel it was a waste, like Vietnam," she said. "All these deaths are as big a waste as Vietnam."

Coleman writes that the "Midwest Heroes" ad bends the truth in other ways. In fact, he says, "[h]alf of the soldiers in the ad, including Kesterson, hailed from Oregon" -- hardly the Midwest.

Perhaps most important, Coleman questions the political motivation of the ads. He concludes:

It is not my desire to discount the grief of the families -- including the stepmothers -- of the 2,274 soldiers who have died following orders.

Folks who would do that kind of despicable thing are the folks who attacked Cindy Sheehan as a "tragedy pimp" and mocked her grief over the loss of her soldier son, Casey.

Americans are divided about this war. But there are patriots on all sides of the debate and there are many families, including those in mourning, praying for an end to it.

These cynical ads ignore that. They exploit the fallen and are a disservice to the troops.

For more info see:
"KSTP takes issue with Iraq war ad"
"Reality Check: Iraq War Ad"
"New pro-war ad cynically exploits families' grief"

For our previous article see "You decide: Iraq -- right or wrong?".