MoveOn Anti-Bush Commercial Contest Makes International News

When the Web-based political group MoveOn.org announced a contest in October for homemade commercials challenging the Bush administration -- the winner to be shown on TV during the week of the State of the Union address -- grass-roots America proved a willing and eager advertising agency.

Thirty-second spots poured in by the hundreds in e-mail attachments to MoveOn.org, which has already shown that the Internet can be a battering ram for political activism by organizing protests against the invasion of Iraq. Last week, the group posted 1,017 of the amateur commercials on a Web site (www.bushin30seconds.org), asking viewers to pick their favorites.