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Thursday, Oct. 14, 2004

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  In one commercial, the faces of dozens of men are shown as an announcer says: "They're the men who served with John Kerry in Vietnam. They're his entire chain of command, most of the officers in Kerry's unit ... And they're the men who spent years in North Vietnamese prison camps. Tortured for refusing to confess what John Kerry accused them of - of being war criminals."

In his Senate testimony after the war, Kerry cited reports from other soldiers of atrocities.

The other ad asks, "Why is this relevant?" The answer, the ad says: "Because character and honesty matter. Especially in a time of war."

Chad Clanton, a Kerry spokesman, called the ads "more trash politics from President Bush's allies. Not only have their charges been proven false, but they're not talking about things that affect voters' daily lives like health care, jobs and the mess in Iraq."

Combined, the groups have bought about $1.5 million worth of airtime to run the ads in Ohio and on national cable channels for a week. However, officials say the groups will end up spending $3 million between now and Nov. 2 to run the spots in those venues as well as in Colorado and New Mexico.

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Editor's note: