WASHINGTON — Maine Sen. Susan Collins is hoping a provocative video of flag-burning war protesters will turn her Democratic opponent's support from an anti-war group into cash for her own campaign.
Collins, a Republican, has sent potential out-of-state contributors a Web-only fundraising solicitation that includes a link to a video attacking the liberal group MoveOn.org and its support of Democratic Rep. Tom Allen.
The video includes a grainy image of Allen and shots of Iraq war protesters burning American flags and holding a sign urging soldiers to kill their officers.
Allen's campaign objected to the video, but Collins' campaign manager defended the fundraising pitch, saying the video is meant to help Collins fight attacks from MoveOn.org.
The group has proved to be a fundraising juggernaut for Democratic candidates but infuriated lawmakers last year when it ran an advertisement in The New York Times labeling Army Gen. David Petraeus as "General Betray Us."
MoveOn.org helped raise $365,804 for Allen in 2007 -- more than any other Democrat running for Congress. On Monday, the group pledged to spend up to $5 million to organize events to target Collins and Republican senators in three other states.
The video from Collins "isn't intended to inform people about either Congressman Allen or Senator Collins," said Steve Abbott, Collins' campaign manager and chief of staff. "The video is intended to alert potential contributors that MoveOn.org and its allies have landed in Maine, and we are asking for their help in fighting back."
Allen called the video inflammatory and said it unfairly characterizes opponents of the war. "It portrays individuals who want to end the war as radicals with no regard for our troops," he said. "Its tone is shrill and insulting to ordinary citizens who disagree with the war."
Collins did not see the video, which her staff composed, until after it ran, because it was a fundraising pitch rather than a traditional political advertisement, which candidates must approve, Abbott said.
Collins declined to comment Tuesday when asked about the video's content.
The use of Web-based fundraising videos is a relatively new phenomenon in American politics, and some say Republicans have not been as successful as Democrats in that arena.
"The Republicans have been slow to tap trees in the online fundraising forest," Michael Cornfield, a political scientist at George Washington University who studies politics and the Internet, wrote in an e-mail. "We'll see whether demonizing MoveOn.org as the NRA of the left works this year in Maine."
The Maine Senate race is on track to be the state's most expensive political campaign ever. Through 2007, Collins had raised $4.1 million and Allen had collected $2.9 million, about $1 million short of the $8 million record set during Collins' 2002 race against Chellie Pingree.
The video also has the effect of keeping the Iraq war a central issue in the Senate race. Allen has opposed the war from the beginning and has voted for spending bills to withdraw troops by a certain date. Collins voted to give President Bush authority to wage war in 2002, but has recently called on Bush to redefine the mission to redeploy troops. She has stopped short of embracing a full withdrawal.
The video begins with an image of the Petraeus advertisement before jumping to a shot of Allen, followed by an image of how much money MoveOn.org's supporters gave to his campaign.
The video contains text explaining how MoveOn.org and other liberal groups will...
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