Critics of the Bush administration's march to war with Iraq are often voluble in expressing their views, but it's the rare person -- such as former state representative Rod Driver of Richmond -- who will put a few thousand dollars of his or her own money into broadcasting an anti-war message on commercial television.

Driver, a British native and retired University of Rhode Island math professor, has dug into his retirement funds -- to the tune of $3000 or $4000, he says -- to have his 30-second commercial broadcast hundreds of times since October on local broadcast and cable channels.

The spot (which can be viewed at www.roddriver.com) shows typical Iraqis in daily activities and a narrator indicates that these are the type of people who will suffer or die if the US goes to war against Iraq. The commercial notes a Congressional Budget Office estimate that the war could cost more than $100 billion, and the narrator encourages viewers to contact the president and their representatives in Congress to express opposition.

Driver, who has launched several unsuccessful bids for Congress in recent years, puts his sponsorship of the commercial in the context of his long-term interest in human rights and peace issues. "Basically, I try to do what I think might help. The Iraqis are human beings," he says, although many US media reports lump blameless individuals with the leadership of Saddam Hussein.

This kind of broadcast activism, particularly a late '90s commercial that criticized Israeli policy toward the Palestinians, has made Driver a source of some controversy. This time around, he says, "I've got a very good response from people who are like-minded and sympathetic, and a handful of nasty responses from other people, most of which are anonymous [telephone calls]."

Driver turned to television advertising -- the largest source of information for most Americans -- as a way of bringing new information to a larger audience. Still, the economics of the marketplace, in which some cable spots can be had for a pittance while the same 30-second slot would cost $8000 during Everybody Loves Raymond, restricts the reach of his message. Although pessimistic about the prospects for peace in Iraq, Driver remains undeterred. "I just have to assume that I'm getting through to some people," he says. "The fact that I'm getting negative responses is telling me that people are seeing it. I wish I could run it nationwide."

Ian Donnis can be reached at idonnis[a]phx.com.

Issue Date: January 3 - 9, 2003