Schmidt slammed in TV ad

Rep. Jean Schmidt's comments about the Walter Reed Army Medical Center have landed her on the air waves. In a column she wrote last March, Schmidt called the media reports of neglect at the soldier's medical center "overblown."

The Enquirer's story of March 21 detailed what she said – and how people reacted to it. We also blogged about it here.

Now, the liberal-leaning group Patriot Majority is airing 30-second issue ads in her 2nd Congressional District urging Schmidt to start supporting American troops, rather than dismissing the documented neglect at Walter Reed as "overblown." This ad is the group's first for 2007.

The ad began airing on June 28 and will continue airing all this month.

In a news release sent to reporters today, the group calls Schmidt's comments "among the most extreme and damaging that anyone has made regarding the mistreatment of America’s wounded soldiers."



About the group running the ads:

The Patriot Majority is a 527 that communicates with Americans on issues of importance in a manner that does not expressly advocate the election or defeat of any candidate for local, state or federal office. The Patriot Majority believes that the policy failures of President Bush and his Congressional allies have weakened our country and endangered our men and women in uniform, and that President Bush’s short-sighted policies have put the U.S. Army is under the greatest strain in a generation.

Text of the ads:

Iraq.
More than 3,000 soldiers killed.
23,000 wounded.
Now newspapers reveal that some of our wounded are housed in dirt and filth.
Cockroaches, mouse droppings, mold.
But Congresswoman Jean Schmidt said the scandal was overblown.
Overblown?!?
Our wounded troops living in disgusting conditions.
She thinks this is overblown?
We're tired of politicians who neglect our veterans.
Call Jean Schmidt. Tell her to start supporting our troops. (513) XXX-XXXX