Veterans for a Strong America is looking for a place to run its hit online video — on television.
The ad praises the quiet heroism of the military personnel who killed Osama bin Laden in May 2011, and portrays President Barack Obama as a glory-hound eager to hog the credit.
With dramatic background images and a banner reading “Heroes don’t seek credit,” the ad shows a catalog of Obama’s statements describing his own responsibility for the mission: “I can report … I directed Leon Panetta … I was briefed … I met repeatedly … At my direction …”
“We’re at a point where we have no choice but to run that ad on TV,” Veterans for a Strong America director Joel Arends told The Daily Caller.
“We have an obligation to start educating and informing the rest of America.”
The public’s response “has been incredible … it evoked very powerful feedback” both among veterans and swing-voters, Arends said. The online video attracted 700,000 viewers on Youtube during its first four days, and generated 3,500 emails.
Veterans for a Strong America, he said, does not have support from GOP-affiliated groups.
The video got a lot of attention from veterans “who are upset about their comrades actions being used in President Obama’s campaign,” he explained.
“I think we will start see those coming out and speaking in the election, [and] I think other veterans groups will come and speak out,” he said.
Swing voters “want a commander-in-chief who is going to make a decision about whether or not to send men and women into harms way, not on a political calculus, but based on the best interests of the nation,” Arends told TheDC.
“President Obama himself made this an issue,” he insisted.
“He said he would bring people together. Instead … he’s using [the bin Laden killing] in a divisive way as part of his campaign.”
Watch the video: