You may soon hear the following ad on your local radio station: "Dear Mr. President," says the voice of a little boy. " My mom's mad at me. I was playing ball in the house when a vase got busted. My mom asked me if I broke it and I said 'No'. I wasn't anywhere near it when it broke. Sure, I threw the ball that knocked over the vase, but it was the floor that actually broke it. So technically, I was telling the truth. Mom grounded me, not for breaking the vase, but for lying about it. Now I can't play Little League anymore and I'm the team's best pitcher. Could you please call my mom, Mr. President, 'cause you can explain lying better than anybody. Thanks, Joey. P.S. When I grow up I want to be president just like you."Â
The national ad campaign is the creation of singer-songwriter Steve Vaus -- and that spot is one of a series of four that will begin airing as soon as this weekend in the Washington, D.C. market.Â
It's called the "Dear Mr. President" campaign.Â
Vaus said. "So many people have been eloquent and articulate about these moral issues with Clinton yet there's this public disconnect because we haven't been very effective in reaching beyond conservative talk radio listeners - we've been 'preaching to the choir'. The "Dear Mr President Campaign will reach beyond the choir in dramatic fashion."Â
The plan is to air the radio advertisements featuring children's letters to President Clinton - letters that dramatize the effect Clinton's behavior has on our everyday lives. Vaus created and produced the campaign - now he's faced with the task of raising the money to buy air time.
Says Vaus, "We're going to need about one million dollars to do it right. But that money must come from the grass roots. So I'm asking people to send at least $1 to the effort and send 10 emails asking ten more people to send a dollar and ten more emails and on and on. I believe we can raise the money we need and then saturate the airwaves." (Read more about the campaign as well as make donations to the fund through the secure server on Vaus's web site.)
"We are going to start on non-conservative radio in Washington DC. Sports stations, news stations, music stations, whatever the top-rated stations are in the market, wherever we can buy time, that's where the ads will air. We have an opportunity to reach out and connect to communicate the most urgent message in contemporary life," Vaus said. "That message is, 'all of this in Washington does matter'. I want people to listen to these radio spots and think, 'I never thought of it that way before.' That is what I am trying to accomplish."Â
The mailing address is DEAR MR. PRESIDENT, P.O. Box 28700 San Diego, CA 92198.