http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicsel ... ball_x.htm
WASHINGTON — Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry has a new political attack group to contend with.
Two Washington-based lawyers supporting President Bush's re-election have registered an advocacy group, Football Fans for Truth, as a Section 527 organization allowed to accept unlimited political donations. They plan to publicize Kerry's recent sports misstatements such as his reference to home of the Green Bay Packers as "Lambert Field" instead of Lambeau Field.
Other gaffes they hope to bring wider attention to include Kerry's talk of the Buckeyes — the nickname of Ohio State University's team — while campaigning in University of Michigan Wolverine territory.
Lawyers Jeff Larroca and Dino Panagopoulos, both members of the law firm Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, said in a conference call Wednesday they have no plans to raise large amounts of cash.
Instead, they hope to get free publicity from sports talk radio and other media.
"Our goal is to basically find ways to get out the political humor about John Kerry's unsuitability to be sportsman-in-chief," Larroca said.
Greg Le Duc, a Green Bay native who has written a screenplay about the life of Packers founder Earl "Curly" Lambeau that he is shopping around Hollywood, indicated in an e-mail Wednesday that Kerry's mistake is understandable.
"For John Kerry, it was probably just a slip since Lambeau is such a unique name compared to Lambert," said Le Duc, who would like to see Burt Reynolds play Packers co-founder George Whitney Calhoun in his movie.
Larroca and Panagopoulos characterized Kerry as a "sports poser" who said his favorite Boston Red Sox player was someone never on the team.
"Some people like the fact that he is an avid dove hunter," Larroca said.
Asked about their involvement in the Bush campaign, they would only say, "We both have yard signs."
This campaign season, both gave $1,000 to the Bush-Cheney campaign and $250 to moderate Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, who had a tough primary battle in the spring against a conservative challenger. Larroca also gave $250 to Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., according to Federal Election Commission records.
Meanwhile, the Bush campaign has played up its tenuous affinity to the Packers with Wisconsin voters.
Last week Vice President Dick Cheney visited Green Bay, Sheboygan and Milwaukee with former Packers quarterback Bart Starr.
In Green Bay, Cheney pointed out he worked 38 years ago for then-Wisconsin Gov. Warren Knowles.
"And one of the privileges of working for the governor was he was a great Packer fan," Cheney said. "And we used to catch football games."
The founders of Football Fans for Truth claim they came up with their idea about a week ago — neither could remember the exact day — during a fantasy football league draft when friends were laughing about Kerry's lack of sports knowledge.
"As the chuckles drew roars, somebody said, 'You should start a 527,'" said Larroca, referring to the section of Internal Revenue Service code that allows political advocacy groups to receive tax-exempt donations.
Panagopoulos, a former Texan who is a Dallas Cowboys fan, and Larroca, who grew up in the Washington area as a diehard Redskins fan, agreed Wednesday that Lambeau, for whom Lambeau Field is named, was one of the original Three Stooges.
They were joking, right?
"I'm serious," Larroca said. "I believe Curly Lambeau was one of the Three Stooges, and that's my final answer."
"We know it has been named Lambeau Field for several years," Panagopoulos added. (1965 to be exact.)
True Packers fans know that Lambeau is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and coached the team for 31 years, winning three consecutive championships from 1929 to 1931.
So will the founders of Football Fans for Truth care if the Packers have a winning season, building on their impressive victory on "Monday Night Football" against the Carolina Panthers?
"I root for the Packers when they play the Redskins," said Panagopoulos, the Dallas fan.
