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Anti-war group targets Coleman
Anti-war advocates are striking the Bush administration where it counts and trying to persuade more Republicans, including Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman, to turn against the president's war policy. Coleman was hit with a six-figure ad blitz Monday, which is aimed at getting him to change his vote on Iraq, break with the president, and support a plan to withdraw U.S. troops. The ad begins with President Bush?s ?Mission Accomplished? speech, then moves through several violent pictures from Iraq, then shows a smiling Coleman standing with his arm around Bush. ?Norm Coleman is still standing with President Bush on Iraq,? the ad claims. A group called Americans United for Change says it's spending between $100,000 and $200,000 on the ad, and it's not just Coleman they're going after. ?It's designed to put other members on notice, including United States Rep. Jim Ramstad and Michele Bachmann,? said Donald McFarland, the Minnesota director of Americans United for Change. Only Coleman is mentioned in the TV spot, which is part of a summer campaign by the group to put pressure on lawmakers who have been loyal to President Bush. The ad will air as other high-profile Republicans are breaking with the president's war policy. In Washington Monday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) said, ?A growing number of Republicans are now speaking against the failed strategy in Iraq, and that's good.? And yet, President Bush's spokesman said Monday the president is not contemplating a troop withdrawal. As for Sen. Coleman, his spokesman released a statement saying the senator ?respects and shares the frustrations of those who are concerned about the continuing violence and political stalemate in Iraq.? The statement added: Coleman ?has been quite vocal in expressing his concerns to the president.? But Coleman says he'll wait until September to decide what the U.S. Iraq policy should be. He is up for reelection next year, and nationally, Democrats consider Coleman vulnerable. ?It's going to be a tough race,? said Mark Drake, the spokesman for the Minnesota GOP. ?The national interest groups are going to throw a lot of money at it, and we're seeing it already.? The anti-Coleman ad will run for the next 10 days in the Twin Cities TV market. The group paying for the ad, Americans United for Change, has run similar ads in Maine and New Hampshire. It's a non-profit group, but as of now, it's only targeting Republicans.
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