JACK CARTER CAMPAIGN: Woman insulted by letter

[darrels joy]

JACK CARTER CAMPAIGN: Woman insulted by letter

Aide asked mother of Iraq war casualty to appear at event

By STEVE TETREAULT
STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU


Eleanor Dachtler of Las Vegas, mother of Marine Lance Cpl. Nicholas H. Anderson, sobs as Marine 1st Sgt. Joe Kapala and George Dachtler salute the American Flag during Anderson's funeral in 2004.

WASHINGTON -- Hoping to generate attention for his boss late in an underdog campaign, an aide to Democrat Jack Carter solicited the mother of an Iraq war casualty to appear alongside the Senate candidate at a rally or news conference last week.

But if it was looking for a willing ally, the Carter camp evidently picked the wrong mother.

Eleanor Dachtler of Las Vegas said she was insulted by the overture, which was made in a blind letter that began: "I hope I have reached the right Eleanor Dachtler and that you are the mother of Nick Anderson. If not, please disregard this letter."

The letter asked if Dachtler would appear with Carter at an event where the candidate would be criticizing the Iraq policy of President Bush and Republican incumbent John Ensign.

Dachtler's participation could help draw media coverage, she was told. Carter is trailing Ensign by double digits in the most recent Review-Journal poll, conducted last week.

"I read the letter, and I thought, 'This guy is a (expletive),'" said Dachtler, whose 18-year old son, Nicholas, was killed on Nov. 12, 2004, in the Anbar province.

Dachtler said she was further bothered that Carter aides had checked her voting records to ascertain that she was a registered Democrat.

Dachtler said Nevada lawmakers, including Ensign, were helpful to her after her son died, and so she turned down the invitation.

She said she kept her annoyance to herself until she saw Carter on television with paraplegics at an event to promote stem cell research, similar to the idea his aides had pitched her on Iraq.

"It was almost like he was exploiting these people," she said.

The letter was signed by Jay Jones, Carter's press secretary. Jones said Friday said he wrote the letter "in good faith" and intended no disrespect.

Carter did not see the letter and was unaware of his effort, Jones said.

"It was my idea," Jones said. "Never did I intend to exploit her, nor do I think I have."

Jones said he and Dachtler mutually agreed after talking on the phone that she probably should not take part in the event, which eventually was scrapped. He said he tried to contact one other family but gave up when he could not find a phone number.

Some family members of slain U.S. soldiers have spoken out on the war, most famously Cindy Sheehan, who has staged protest camp-outs near Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas.

Dachtler said she is conflicted.

"I am looking at it as a mother who lost a son and doesn't want anybody to lose a family member," Dachtler said. "But I don't want my son to have died in vain.

"My son went there for a purpose; he was military-oriented all the way," Dachtler said. "I don't care about political reasons for being there. I believe that my son died for the thousands of people who were slaughtered and massacred by Saddam."

Photo by John Gurzinski.
Marine Lance Cpl. Nicholas H. Anderson was killed on Nov. 12, 2004, in Iraq.
Photo by The Associated Press

[darrels joy]

"Almost like"? Mrs. Dachtler, you have a gift for understatement! Jack Carter, by the way, is the son of the worst president of the latter half of the 20th century.

There's something especially revolting about the attempt to exploit American servicemen by painting them as victims rather than heroes, a political technique pioneered by John "Botched Joke" Kerry, who told a Senate committee in 1971:

"I called the media. . . . I said, 'If I take some crippled veterans down to the White House and we chain ourselves to the gates, will we get coverage?' 'Oh, yes, we will cover that.' "

Last Friday we attended a dinner, sponsored by the Soldiers', Sailors', Marines' and Airmen's Club, for wounded veterans planning to participate in yesterday's New York City Marathon. (We were the guest of Heather Robinson, who profiled the club's executive director, Peter LeBeau, for New York's Daily News last week.)

At our table was a young man who in 2003 lost a leg to a roadside bomb in Iraq. Talking to this guy was an inspiration: He evinced not the slightest bit of bitterness, and he went on at some length about the good work he and his buddies had done in Iraq, making clear that he still believes in the mission.

At the end of the evening, we thanked him for his sacrifice. He replied, "It was just a bad day at work."

If Jack Carter and John Kerry think America's servicemen are victims or losers, they should try actually spending some time with them. Just maybe they'd be as impressed as we were.

Hypocrisy, Anyone?

Best of the Web Today - November 6, 2006
By JAMES TARANTO

[Seascamp]

Tacky, tacky, tacky and obviously yet another ?clerical error? that keeps Jack clean of any mechanical coldness and attempted political exploitation of a Gold Star Mom, and a Demo Party member to boot, good grief.

Oh Jack, Jack, Jack, ring-ring, wake up, eh. An appropriately sized ?honorarium? plus expenses gets a professional mourner that has no qualms at all about making some bucks off a lost loved one and comes fully scripted n? good to go with romp n? stomp rhetoric.

I note that Jack didn?t make it here for the Nevada Day festivities and charm us with some down-home Carterish musings n' wonderfulness about how great it was with Pa. But that?s OK, maybe he reckons that Clarke County-Las Vegas is the be all and end all of the State, and the edge of the world is just a few feet the other side of the County line. :re:

Scamp