One driving force behind the Bush 9-11 ad kerfuffle is the group September 11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows (peacefultomorrows.org). To get a clue of how these unfortunate Americans are also hard-core lefties, see their speaking schedule here.

One founder is pounding at Bush on the front page of the Washington Post this morning, but she’s not identified with the group. “The idea that President Bush would rally support around his campaign by using his loved one in a way that is so shameful is hard for me to believe,” says Rita Lasar. You’ll find her routinely on the group’s speaking calendar. The Peaceful Tomorrows clan is noted and Colleen Kelly of the group is quoted on A4, but it is described softly as a “nonpartisan group.”

Then note that this group also plans to get in the GOP’s faces during the convention this fall. From the August 10, 2003 NY Times: “The unifying theme about the Republican convention next year is keep your hands off ground zero,” said Rita Lasar, a founder of September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, a group of about 80 relatives of attack victims. “Do not make a political football out of this. This is a place where very close, dear relatives died. It’s not the backdrop for a political campaign.”