Web Note by John Stauber of PR Watch & Source Watch:

The co-optation of the mainstream anti-war movement by Democrats is complete. Five years after the invasion and the choice for November voters is between a stay-the-course Republican, McCain, and two manage-the-war-better Democrats, one who voted for the war.

Millions and millions of dollars are pouring into Democratic-oriented "anti-war" efforts like Campaign to Defend America and Americans Against the Escalation in Iraq -- really the same money from MoveOn, Soros, Democracy Alliance funders, etc.  The whole mantra is blame the Republicans, vote for Democrats.

Ironically, as Alternet points out below, there is indication that McCain's message of 'stay the course' might sway voters in a choice between him and a Dem in November.

Check out these links, below.

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Defending America, Attacking McCain
http://www.prwatch.org/node/7073

The Democratic Party-oriented Campaign to Defend America, a non- profit group spun off from Americans Against Escalation in Iraq, is behind a TV ad attacking John McCain. Campaign to Defend America and its funders "have pledged a multimillion-dollar effort to target McCain and congressional Republicans on the consequences of the Iraq war on the U.S. economy," receiving "at least $1.4 million from The Fund for America, a nonprofit group set up last year by John Podesta, a former chief of staff for President Clinton; Anna Burger, the secretary-treasurer of the Service Employees International Union; and Rob McKay, a California philanthropist (and chair of the Democracy Alliance). Campaign to Defend America is headed by Tom Matzzie, the former Washington director of ... MoveOn.org. Among Fund for America donors are multimillionaire financier George Soros." The Center for Investigative Reporting has created a chart illustrating the liberal money and connections behind the Campaign to Defend America. Recently the groups behind the Campaign and AAEI poured $20 million dollars into a the Iraq/Recession Campaign targeting Republicans in 2008.

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Anti-War But Voting for McCain

http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/79351/

But when the issue is war and peace, Democrats should be as wary as George Tenet about predicting a "slam dunk." Frank Rich, like so many others, assumes that voters who are against the war will choose the candidate who is against the war. Ah, if only our fellow citizens were indeed so logical, how much easier it would be to forecast elections -- and what a different nation this would be.

In fact, the polling numbers from late February and early March already show a less logical, more disturbing trend. A clear majority still think the war was a mistake. But when the question is which candidate will do best handling the war, McCain wins every time. In an LA Times/Bloomberg (LAT/B) poll, it's no contest. He outpolls Clinton on the question 51-35 and outpolls Obama 47-34. A Washington Post/ABC (WP/ABC) poll pitted McCain only against Obama. Though the result was closer, McCain still won 48-43. Yet 63% in that poll said the war was not worth fighting.

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AAEI - How Democrats Took Over and Betrayed the Peace Movement

http://www.prwatch.org/node/6981#comment-2873

 Matt Taibbi analyzes how "Democrats have surrendered to Bush on Iraq and betrayed the peace movement for their own political ends." He faults the MoveOn-led Americans Against Escalation in Iraq, "a political tool for the Democrats -- one operated from inside the Beltway and devoted primarily to targeting Republicans. ... At the forefront of the groups are Thomas Matzzie and Brad Woodhouse... [M] uch of the anti-war group's leadership hails from a consulting firm called Hildebrand Tewes -- whose partners Steve Hildebrand and Paul Tewes served as staffers for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. ... This is the kind of conflict of interest that would normally be an embarrassment in the activist community. ... The really tragic thing about the Democratic surrender on Iraq is that it's now all but guaranteed that the war will be off the table during the presidential campaign. Once again ... the Democrats have ... done nothing but vote for war and cough up every dime they've been asked to give, every step of the way." Besides MoveOn others in the AAEI coalition include Americans United for Change, Campaign for America's Future, Center for American Progress, SEIU, USAction, VoteVets.org, Win Without War and Working Assets. Both Hildebrand and Tewes are "senior strategists" for presidential candidate Barack Obama.

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John Stauber, Executive Director, Center for Media and Democracy
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Books by John Stauber include:
The Best War Ever http://www.thebestwarever.com
Weapons of Mass Deception  http://www.prwatch.org/books/wmd.html
Trust Us, We're Experts http://www.prwatch.org/books/experts.html
Toxic Sludge Is Good For You  http://www.prwatch.org/books/tsigfy.html