Jun 16, 2008 6:05 pm US/Central
Franken Favors Iraq Withdrawal In 'Invest Here' Ad
ST. PAUL (AP) ―
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Franken says U.S. money being spent on reconstruction in Iraq would be better spent on education, health care, roads and bridges and other priorities in the United States. (File)
Al Franken For Senate
For his first TV ad of the general election campaign, U.S. Senate candidate Al Franken chose to highlight his opposition to the continued U.S. troop presence in Iraq.
It's an issue on which the Democrat has tried to draw a distinction between himself and his opponent, Republican Sen. Norm Coleman. The Franken campaign's unveiling of the ad set off squabbling between the Franken and Coleman campaigns, with the Republicans arguing that Coleman has already advocated the central argument espoused in Franken's ad.
Franken's 30-second ad was to start airing Tuesday on broadcast and cable stations in the Twin Cities, Rochester, Duluth and Mankato markets. Spokesman Andy Barr wouldn't say how much the campaign is spending except to say it's "in the six figures."
In the ad, Franken notes that the U.S. government has funded the construction of schools, water and sewage projects, and roads and bridges in Iraq -- and arguing that similar projects have been neglected in the United States.
"It's time to bring our brave troops home ... and focus here on education, health care, jobs and infrastructure," Franken says in the ad.
Coleman's campaign manager, Cullen Sheehan, said that Coleman has called for the Iraqi government to spend more of its own money on reconstruction projects in the country. But, unlike Franken, Coleman does not support setting up a timetable for beginning to withdraw U.S. soldiers from Iraq.
"Ultimately we're there, and we have more responsibilities," Sheehan said.
In unveiling the ad, spokesman Andy Barr said that Franken believes the only way to put pressure on the Iraqi government to take more responsibility for rebuilding the country and maintaining stability there is by beginning to withdraw troops.
"We're talking about making a pledge that our commitment is going to come to an end," Barr said. "We can make a choice to change directions here."
Barr said Franken believes that other countries in the region and the international community should be taking a more prominent role in ensuring stability in Iraq. He said Franken doesn't oppose a much smaller presence of U.S. troops in the area "to guard against regional conflicts."
At a press availability earlier in the day, Coleman said he would defer to U.S. military leaders on decisions about troop levels in Iraq. He criticized how the reconstruction has been handled and said that the U.S. underestimated the strength of the Iraq insurgency.
Coleman, who wasn't in the Senate yet when it voted in 2002 to authorize the Iraq war, said given what was known at the time he probably would have voted in favor of it. He said he did not think the Bush administration purposely misled the country into the war, as many Democrats now believe.
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Norm Coleman was born in New York City in 1949. Al Franken was born in New York City in 1951.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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