Flag-Draped Caskets in Campaign Video

Democrats pull ad showing flag-draped caskets

ROCK HILL, S.C. - A Democratic ad showing flag-draped caskets was pulled Friday from a fundraising Web site, a day after U.S. Rep. John Spratt sent a letter urging his party to do so.

His Republican challenger, state Rep. Ralph Norman, commended the removal. It was "the right thing to do for the state, country and especially the brave men and women who serve in our military," said Norman's spokesman, Nathan Hollifield.

In a joint news conference earlier Friday, Norman and U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson thanked Spratt for joining them in condemning the 75-second ad, posted last week on a Web site for the campaign arm of House Democrats.

"This is wrong, and they know it," said Norman, who sent a letter to the media Wednesday evening calling on the incumbent to renounce the ad. Norman said it exploited "the sacrifices of our fallen heroes" and disgraced their memory.

But Norman and Wilson criticized the incumbent's two-paragraph letter as not going far enough and said the state's longest-serving congressman should either get the ad withdrawn immediately, or return any money he's received from party leaders and resign his Democratic leadership position. Wilson had called Spratt's letter a "feeble first step" because it did not specify why the ad should be withdrawn.

Like Wilson, Spratt sits on the House Armed Services Committee. He said the letter was short because he "whipped the letter together in a matter of minutes after seeing the video. ... My interest was to convey my request as quickly as possible."

"The proof of the pudding's in the eating," Spratt added. "It was pulled in a matter of a day."

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's ad included images of caskets draped with American flags and a soldier standing over a fallen comrade's grave. Spratt's letter asked committee chairman Rahm Emanuel to pull the ad immediately and "delete both of these clips before running it again."

A different ad on minimum wage was posted on the Web site Friday evening.

Spratt also called it "ridiculous" for Norman to even ask that he return money and resign his post as an assistant to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California.

"I fail to see the connection," he said. Norman said Spratt's given the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee $100,000 for November's election and received a total of $25,000 from it, three party leaders and their political action committees.

Norman's campaign repeatedly links Pelosi to Spratt. Party leaders have said voters should elect Norman if they want the GOP to maintain control of the U.S. House.

On Friday, Wilson said the Democratic ad, which includes a photograph of a news conference with Pelosi at the podium and Spratt's face on a third row of legislators behind her, "reinforces that Spratt is a chief assistant to an ultraliberal leader."

Spratt said that's an inaccurate representation of his role.

"The reason she chose me was because she wanted someone to represent the center-to-conservative Democrats in our caucus. That's my specific and particular role, not to represent her political position but to balance the leadership," Spratt said.

Henry Eldridge, chairman of the York County Republican Party, said the latest Associated Press-Ipsos poll does not reflect the 5th Congressional District. The poll, released Friday, found that Americans by an almost 3-to-1 margin hold the GOP-controlled Congress in low regard and profess a desire to see Democrats wrest control after a dozen years of Republican rule.

"There is a groundswell of support here for Ralph Norman," Eldridge said.

That doesn't include Rock Hill resident Bill Easley, who said he normally votes Republican. He said he's voting for Spratt "for his experience, his levelheadedness, his willingness to do what he feels is right for the country and district rather than partisan politics."

He wants more people in Congress who will vote their conscience, he said. If the leadership becomes "more centrist Democrats, we're still better off," Easley said.

Norman's fundraising far surpasses the efforts of Spratt's former challengers. Still, with four months to go, Norman's available cash is less than half that of the 12-term incumbent. Spratt has $1.5 million cash on hand, compared to Norman's $733,600, according to campaign filing reports filed this week.

"This isn't shocking at all," Hollifield said about Spratt's numbers, filed late Friday. "While (Spratt's) fundraising numbers are impressive to an extent, we are excited to have such strong financial backing."