A veterans group targeting congressional incumbents for not doing more for troops in Iraq brings its battle to Pennsylvania today with a hard-hitting commercial aimed at U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum.

Produced by the political action committee VoteVets.org, based in New York, the ad accuses Santorum of voting "against our troops" by not supporting an amendment in 2003 that would have bought better body armor for soldiers.

The ad will air only in western Pennsylvania until Sunday and comes less than seven weeks before voters head to the polls to choose among Santorum, Democrat Bob Casey Jr. and perhaps Carl Romanelli of the Green Party.

Set in what appears to be a desert training ground, the ad shows a man identified as an Iraq war veteran using an AK-47 to shoot two mannequins wearing flak jackets. One is a Vietnam-era vest troops were given in Iraq and the other is "modern body armor," the veteran says before firing four shots into each jacket.

He then pulls open the vests to show no damage under the modern jacket, but four holes in the mannequin wearing the older gear.

"The difference is life," he says, pulling back the Velcro from the two jackets to inspect the results. "Or death."

His message ends with a clear direction to voters. "Sen. Rick Santorum voted against giving our troops this," he said, holding the jacket that blocked the bullets. "Now it is time for us to vote against him."

VoteVets chairman and Iraq war veteran Jon Soltz said in a conference call Wednesday that the ad refers to two instances when Santorum failed to vote for better body armor.

The first came in April 2003, when Santorum, along a party-line vote, helped defeat an amendment by Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., to provide $1 billion in additional funding for the National Guard and Reserve. In October 2003, Santorum missed a vote on another amendment to pay for better body armor for soldiers.

"When the troops needed Rick Santorum, he voted against us and just plain didn't show up," Soltz said. He said the group is endorsing Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans only and does not endorse Casey. "This is about Rick Santorum's record, not Bob Casey."

The group said it's running "way more than once per day" on television in western Pennsylvania until Sunday. VoteVets aired a nearly identical ad in Virginia last week criticizing Sen. George Allen, R-Va., for voting against the Landrieu amendment.

Santorum spokeswoman Virginia Davis said the senator has a "solid record of supporting our military and ensuring they have the equipment and supplies they need to be successful on the battlefield." Davis pointed to 11 votes since July 2004 in which she said Santorum voted for body armor and equipment funding.

She added the amendment didn't specify funding for body armor, nor did the Louisiana senator specifically raise the need for body armor in a floor speech before the vote.

Landrieu did mention the need for "bulletproof inserts" and "tactical vests" in a news release announcing the amendment.

Davis said the organization funding the ad is relying on media coverage of the advertising campaign to get its message out and questioned the breadth of its ad buy.

Broad criticism for not providing troops with better body armor first began emerging in fall 2003, after the amendment Santorum opposed but before the vote he missed.

A shortage of the newest vests made with Kevlar and ceramic inserts meant that the military, at first, could only give the best body armor to troops on the front lines. Soldiers' loved ones began to tell stories of having to spend hundreds of dollars to send their spouses and children better equipment.

By January 2004, soldiers were fully equipped with the latest armor. Later that year, Congress passed a measure reimbursing families for sending vests to loved ones. Santorum voted for the bill.

VoteVets, whose board of advisers includes prominent retired Gen. Wesley Clarke and former Nebraska Sen. Bob Kerrey, both prominent Democrats, has endorsed six Democrats and one Republican seeking office, all war veterans.

jdrobnyk@tribune.com

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