Desperate on Iraq, Democrats Wage "100-Year" Smear

In a sure sign that antiwar radicals will continue to pull the Democrats to the far left-wing fringe of American politics throughout the election, the DNC's rolled out a new antiwar campaign spot smearing John McCain's statement on a likely-long term commitment to the Iraqi people, via YouTube:

The New York Times has some background:

Using footage from the now-infamous town hall meeting way back in January when a voter and Senator John McCain went back-and-forth about how long the United States would stay in Iraq, the Democratic National Committee has begun broadcasting a new ad.

In addition to the clip of an excerpt from the exchange in Derry, N.H. (which we’ve written about a few times before and posted the full video), the Democrats’ ad then unfolds with footage of violent scenes from the war.

It ends with a photograph of President Bush and John McCain together, and asks: “If all he offers is more of the same….is John McCain the right choice for America’s future?”

In the commercial, Mr. McCain’s words speak for themselves, not misstated as they have been on the campaign trail as though he called for 100 years of war. In the initial exchange with voter Dave Tiffany, and in subsequent interviews, Mr. McCain made it clear he was not talking about extended combat, but about the fact that he wouldn’t mind maintaining a presence in Iraq to assist with stability. (He likened it to the continuing presence of troops in South Korea or Bosnia.)

On NBC’s “Meet the Press” today, Howard Dean, the chairman of the D.N.C., again criticized Mr. McCain for being O.K. with staying in Iraq for a hundred years. Mr. Dean said he was not distorting Mr. McCain’s words. But, he added:

“Now, does anyone think, who’s watching this show, that if you keep our troops in Iraq for a hundred years, people won’t be attacking them and won’t be setting off suicide bombs and won’t be having militias go after them? I don’t think so. And most Americans don’t think so. What Senator McCain is saying doesn’t make any sense. We cannot be in Iraq for a hundred years. Those dollars belong in America. We’re in trouble in this–in, in America. And, frankly, the Bush-McCain economic program has put us in trouble in America. That money needs to be here in America.”

The Republican National Committee issued a lengthy response today, recapping its opposition to another D.N.C. ad against Senator McCain released last week. The Republicans contend that the advertising campaign violates federal election law, allegedly by coordinating with the Obama-Clinton campaigns.

“This morning we saw yet another advertisement being announced by the Democrat National Committee which is not only illegal, but a complete distortion of Senator McCain’s comments and record.

“Over the course of the next six months, we expect the DNC to wage a respectful and honest campaign, which means adhering to the law. Howard Dean and the D.N.C. should immediately cease and desist from airing these advertisements. And if the D.N.C. fails to act, both Senators Clinton and Obama should immediately call on them to do so.”

Mr. Dean was asked about those allegations by Tim Russert, host of “Meet the Press” this morning, and Mr. Russert noted that Virginia Republicans had filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission. Mr. Dean replied: “Yeah, that is a joke. There’s no evidence for that whatsoever, and it’s plain untrue. Neither one of the campaigns ever saw this ad or knew anything about it before we put it on.”

You be the judge.

McCain has repudiated mudslinging racial politics in the North Carolina ad wars.

Yet we see the Democratic Party opportunistically protesting alleged GOP "Willie Hortonism," while at the same time demonstrating that it's perfectly willing to smear the presumptive GOP nominee with fear-mongering footage of combat that surreptitiously suggests an "endless war" for American forces in Iraq.

See also Allahpundit on the New York Times' summary.

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UPDATE: The Swamp adds a little perspective on Howard Dean's motivations (via Memeorandum):

Now, with 63 percent of Americans surveyed calling the deployment of U.S. forces in Iraq a mistake -- a peak in the Gallup Poll's surveys of war sentiment -- Dean is banking once again that a candidate's support for the war might be his undoing. It matters little if it's a "100-year war'' or simply the six-year war with which McCain, like Lieberman, an adamant supporter of the administration's latest war strategy, will be running.

In other words, it's a war, period, and the Democratic Party will opppose it incessantly to bring the party's nihilist surrender forces to power.