Marines tell Idaho congressional candidate Vaughn Ward to pull campaign ad

Marines tell Idaho congressional candidate Vaughn Ward to pull campaign ad


Congressional candidate Vaughn Ward has violated a Pentagon directive prohibiting the impression that his campaign is supported by the military, according to the Marine Corps.

Ward is a Marine major assigned to 28 days of annual reserve duty at the Office of Legislative Affairs in Washington, D.C. Ward won a Bronze Star with Combat V for valor for leading a Marine company in Iraq from April to October 2006.

Ward and state Rep. Raul Labrador are the top candidates in the May 25 Republican primary. The winner will challenge Democratic Rep. Walt Minnick in November.

The Marine Corps wrote Ward earlier this month saying his online ad on the Drudge Report website on March 31 and April 1 violated the directive. The ad showed Ward in camouflage and body armor and said, "With Your Help I Will Vote To Repeal ObamaCare!"

The $2,500 ad encouraged contributions and directed viewers to the campaign website, vaughnward.com.

But the ad failed to provide the"prominent and clearly displayed disclaimer that neither the military information nor photographs imply endorsement by the Department of Defense or their particular Military Department."

The ad had no disclaimer of any kind.

"Maj. Ward was asked in writing to remove this ad because it did not comply with the (Department of Defense) Directive," Capt. Brian Block, a spokesman at Marine Headquarters at the Pentagon, said in an e-mail.

Ward took responsibility for the mistake in an interview Wednesday and promised not to repeat it.

"It's my fault. I saw the ad," Ward said. "I should have made the correction."

In the letter, "They said, 'Vaughn, you need to refrain from using this information if you're not going to put a disclaimer on it,' " Ward said.

The directive also prohibits images of candidates "in uniform as the primary graphic representation" in campaign material. Ward's photo comprises about one-third of the ad. He said his ad did not violate that part of the directive.

"To deal with this issue, because I don't want to embarrass the Marine Corps, because I don't want to be found in contravention to regulations, we pulled it," Ward said. "You won't ever see it again."

Added Ward: "Reading the regulations and then talking to others in the Marine Corps, I said, you know what, this is a gray area that I don't need to be involved in. I don't need to sell the Marine Corps. I don't need people to look at me and say, 'Oh, he's a Marine, so I'm going to support him.' I think I can do it in other ways. So, I have decided not to even use anything like that going forward."

Ward said Wednesday that he did expect to use images of him in uniform with an appropriate disclaimer.

"If I do like a campaign mailer and it's got a picture of me (in uniform), it won't be the predominant picture," he said. "There'll be other pictures on there, of me on a farm or me as a kid or whatever."

After that interview, the Statesman learned that some postcards picturing Ward in combat gear arrived in mailboxes last week with no disclaimer.

Block said on Monday, "We are currently looking into the issue of the postcard mailings, and when that review is complete, we will take appropriate action."

Ward did not reply to a request Monday for comment on the postcard.

His campaign manager, Ryan O'Barto, said a sticker with a disclaimer has been affixed to the rest of the postcards. The disclaimer appears next to the family photo in 4-point type. "We are sending more, and they have the disclaimer on them," he said.

Asked how many postcards were mailed without the disclaimer, O'Barto said, "I will get back to you on that." O'Barto did not provide an answer Monday.

Ward declined to provide a copy of the letter from the Marine Corps, saying, "That was from them to me, not to be shared."



Read more: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2010/04/27/1168913/marines-tell-ward-to-pull-campaign.html#ixzz0mMFRAVB3