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Old 11-21-2010, 11:15 AM
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Danger Room What's Next in National Security



Religious Group: Pass Nuke Treaty or We All Burn


The choice, Senator, is clear: either you vote for the new U.S.-Russia treaty to cut nuclear weapons, and you do it right now, or this adorable girl is going to die, right on the greenery of the National Mall. The Cold War is back and going hot, all over New START.
Facing a near-death experience for the treaty in the Senate, the Obama administration is fighting back, appointing Vice President Biden as its senatorial arm-twister in order to get 67 votes for ratification before the congressional session expires next month. And at this late hour, it’s not appealing to the better angels of bipartisanship on national security anymore. It’s arguing that every day without the treaty is a day that the Russian nuclear stockpile goes unmonitored, putting the U.S. in danger from… either a Russian missile launch or a terrorist absconding with a loose nuke or something.
And it’s not just the White House. Key surrogates are fanning out, hitting reporters’ inboxes with pro-New START spin. And they’re hardly shy about amplifying a New-START-Or-Death message.

Case in point is this video, from the American Values Network, a liberal religious group. Riffing off Lyndon Johnson’s infamous “daisy ad” — the one where Johnson said the world would end if voters opted for Barry Goldwater — an innocent girl dies in a nuclear holocaust, all because obstinate Republican senators didn’t pass the administration’s treaty in the lame-duck Senate session. If only there had been U.S. nuclear inspectors on the ground in Russia, we could have averted this world-ending fate.
Except that even under New START, the U.S. still won’t be able to catalog every Russian warhead, so it’s not as if the loose-nuke problem resolves itself when the inspectors return. It’s true that on-the-ground inspectors provide more precision in understanding the state of the Russian nuclear arsenal than satellites do. But the point of the video is to inspire fear, not persuade people on the merits of the treaty.
According to Politico’s Morning Defense team, the group is spending “six-figure[s]” to air the spot on cable, along with “saturation buys” for related radio ads on “Christian and country radio stations.” Subtle message: wouldn’t Jesus vote for New START?
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