Illustration by Dave Low

Now that it seems apparent John Kerry will be the Democratic nominee, the focus has turned to the big showdown in November. President Bush has started running campaign ads, many of which incorporate images of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The commercials have sparked heated opposition from some victims' rights groups that allege President Bush is capitalizing on tragedy for personal gain. We asked our columnists: "Is Bush playing fair? Are the ads in good taste, or should they be pulled?"

Sara Warzecka Columnist

Let's stop beating around the Bush

Bush has certainly alienated survivors and families by using Sept. 11 images in his new campaign when he promised not to. Despite this fact, he has chosen not to pull the ads. However, there are other politically compelling reasons he should stop the advertisements. Where Bush sees success, he's actually reminding Americans of failures.

Bush was a dutiful leader who held the country together during crisis. So what? He did the same thing any president would do. It wouldn't be politically savvy to sit back and say he wasn't going to do anything, that the country deserved it and he wouldn't plan any retribution. That is political suicide, and stupid, even for a Bush. He just did his job, and simply at that. What the ad does bring to mind is that the man responsible for the attack still hasn't been brought to justice and that Bush Jr. and Sr. were paid consultants for the Carlyle Group, through which Bush Sr. had direct dealings with the bin Laden family only days before the attacks. Of course, it doesn't strike one as interesting that the Carlyle Group was sold only shortly after Sept. 11. Can you say cover-up? Then come all of the allegations that the Bush administration was informed of a threat beforehand and did nothing. Nothing about this ad inspires voting confidence.

Sara Warzecka has no optimism for this year's elections. She can be letters@wildcat.arizona.edu.

Eliza Tebo Copy Chief

30 seconds of, well, nothing

Remember the last two years? Bush doesn't. His "Safer, Stronger" ad tells us that in 2001, the stock market fell. Then, terrorists attacked us. And that about brings us up to speed.

I'm not quite sure which guys down at Bush-Cheney '04 lost the footage of Rosie tying the knot with her girlfriend. Whoever it was also misplaced the "shock and awe" bit too.

Or maybe they just think nothing has happened since Sept. 11.

All right, we already know the ad, to say the least, lacks class. Using Sept. 11 footage for anyone's gain, in fact using it at all so soon, goes beyond insensitivity. True, I half-expected Bush to throw in the whole Thanksgiving with the troops thing, but I didn't know he'd find everything campaign fodder.

What's more is how this ad manages to ignore just about everything. I'm pretty sure Bush has something to say about gay marriage, the war in Iraq and dozens of other hot-button issues dominating headlines in the past two years. Yet, he won't say it here. All he says is, "Steady leadership in times of change," which is basically a euphemism for: "I'm terrible at solving problems, but hey, at least we're still here, right?" Oh yeah, he's also sure to mention "freedom" a few times.

Eliza Tebo thinks campaign ads should be more creative. She is a history senior and can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu.

Sabrina Noble Columnist

Case of presidential profiteering

Sept. 11 sparked an unusual time for our nation. Firefighters were heroically dying while trying to aid survivors, celebrities were staging memorials, and for maybe a few months to a year, we paid attention to the faces we passed on the sidewalk. We recognized that we were surrounded by our own, by friends.

Now Bush's campaign commercials are trying to remind us of how bittersweet that time was, but not because we've forgotten how we felt, or that he was president. He's pulling our heartstrings because he wants to recreate that sense of unity, just as he did every time he took us to war. This time, he's using Sept. 11 unity to get re-elected.

Yet, while his commercials certainly stir up our pain and patriotism, it's unclear how Bush was ever responsible for the coming together of a mourning nation. This is probably because, despite what his advertisements would like us to believe, he had little to do with our personal response. He had much to do with our public response which was a strike on Afghanistan and al-Qaida, followed by a war in Iraq.

And yet, wartime images are suspiciously absent from his campaign commercials. Not once is a clip of a captured Osama bin Laden played, nor one of Bush standing victoriously in front of a stockpile of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. Very unfortunately for all of us, those images were unavailable at campaigning time.

Here was a(n) (un)predictable disaster with very predictable political results. Bush shouldn't campaign on what incidentally happened during his presidency, but what he did to respond to ÷ or provoke ÷ those incidents. Apparently the latter isn't campaign-worthy.

Sabrina Noble is a senior majoring in English and creative writing. She can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu.

Jason Poreda Opinions Assistant

We have to remember all the puzzle pieces

In the weeks following Sept. 11, everyone had an American flag on his or her car or a pin on his or her shirt. We all united, saying that we would "never forget" the terrible events of that day. Now everyone is up in arms because President Bush is asking us to remember that those events happened during his presidency. The ads that President Bush is running simply remind us of this, and are relevant to this campaign.

In November, we have to decide if Bush has done a good enough job to be re-elected. For us to forget three years later that he was the president when Sept. 11 happened and not take that into account when casting our ballots is naive. Of course we should remember that, just the same as we should remember the economy, the war in Iraq and the legislation that he passed.

We have to look at all the aspects of his presidency in order to get an accurate look at how he did for the past four years and leaving a big piece out of it is not right. Did President Roosevelt mention Pearl Harbor and World War II when he ran for re-election in 1944? Did Ronald Reagan mention the hostages in Iran when he ran against Carter in 1980? Of course they did, why wouldn't they?

Jason Poreda still has an American flag on his car. He can be letters@wildcat.arizona.edu.

Tim Belshe Columnist

Reminders of accomplishments are fair game

Although the advertisements President Bush's campaign recently ran may be hard for some to watch, they were entirely appropriate. The argument that the Sept. 11 attacks should be off-limits as a campaign issue is about as reasonable as the attacks themselves. These attacks are the pivotal event in recent American, and world, history, and therefore deserve a place in the national debate for the presidency.

The fact of the matter is, the Bush presidency will be defined by Sept. 11. Fifty years from now, if you ask a child who George W. Bush was, the kid will say that he was the president during the Sept. 11 attacks. I'll bet just about anything the kid won't say "He's the president who choked on a pretzel while watching TV."

Considering all this, how can anyone say that it's not appropriate to remind the country of the job Bush did as the nation's leader during this tragedy? Just because an issue is sensitive doesn't mean we can simply ignore it.

Let's not forget that at one point, this president had approval ratings in the 90 percent area.

Bush is entitled to recount his accomplishments in his re-election campaign, and the leadership he displayed in the aftermath of the attacks is one of those accomplishments.

Tim Belshe is a systems engineering junior. He can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu.

Shane Dale Asst. Sports Editor

Bush wants U.S. to remember

There's a billboard on Interstate 10 just north of Tucson that reads, "September 11, 2001: Stay focused, America."

That's what President Bush wants us to do. What better way to do it than to remind folks why he enjoyed a 90 percent-plus approval rating in the weeks after Sept. 11?

The president wants to remind people he had their full support in going after the Taliban. He wants to remind people that terrorism is still a threat to the country, but that through his leadership, the United States has done a phenomenal job at breaking up al-Qaida cells throughout the world.

He wants to remind people why he deserves a few more years to fight the war on terror.

Naturally, some are offended by the ads, including family and friends of those who died.

But one would have to wager that those offended won't be voting for Bush in November anyway. And those who aren't offended appreciate the president's leadership in the post-Sept. 11 world and would like to see his foreign policy vision carried out through 2008.

In every re-election bid, presidents want to remind voters what they accomplished in their first four years. Arguably, no presidential accomplishment in U.S. history was more important than Bush's reaction to the terrorist attacks.

Shane Dale is a political science senior. He can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu.