Sen. Paul Coverdell began airing a new television commercial Tuesday that defends his votes on veterans' benefits and for the first time shows his opponent, Democrat Michael Coles, standing next to embattled President Clinton. “Coverdell voted four times to restore [veterans] benefits that Michael Coles’ friend Bill Clinton tried to take away,” a male announcer says, as footage of Clinton at an Atlanta fund-raiser for Coles appears in the background. Although Coles invited Clinton to the July 9 event and raised $500,000 at it, he says he differs with the president on many issues, including health care benefits for veterans. Last week Coles aired a TV ad attacking a series of Coverdell votes on veterans, particularly his stand with the 50-48 majority on a point of order July 8. National veterans affairs groups have cited that vote as a crucial defeat in their bid to keep $15.5 billion in health benefits for veterans with smoking-related illnesses. Also on Tuesday, the Democratic Party of Georgia joined Coles’ attack by airing its own TV ad criticizing Coverdell on veterans' issues. In response, the Coverdell ad refers to the fact that Clinton proposed the $15.5 billion in cuts and that Coverdell voted on four other occasions to restore those benefits. One of those votes came July 17, nine days after the key 50-48 vote. But David Gorman, executive director of the Disabled American Veterans, said the July 8 vote was probably more meaningful. “There were a number of different votes on this issue, and some were just feel-good votes that really didn’t matter much,” Gorman said, adding that the July 17 vote to restore the benefits required a supermajority of 60 votes and had little chance of passing. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), a leading advocate for veterans in the Senate, issued a press release Tuesday backing Coverdell’s voting record on veterans. McCain and Sen. Max Cleland of Georgia were among those who voted on the opposite side from Coverdell on July 8. Coverdell’s ad features an elderly actress with a bar of soap who in two previous Coverdell ads has been used to scold Coles for distorting Coverdell’s voting record. “My ad is narrated by real people, veterans, not by paid actors or actresses,” Coles responded. “Paul Coverdell is embarrassed because he’s seeing his policy decisions connected to real people.” Libertarian Bert Loftman said the federal government should pay all benefits for health problems stemming from war injuries, but not necessarily for illnesses caused by “ongoing destructive behavior” such as smoking. |
