Remember when Madison conservatives -- looking for something... anything -- to use as an issue against Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz attacked his campaign for using a photo of the city's chief executive with the city's firefighters.

It was inappropriate the mayor's critics said in 2007 for Cieslewicz to "use" uniformed firefighters as campaign props.

Will these same folks will now savage presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain for using an image of General David Petraeus as part of a particularly creepy fund-raising appeal.

Here's the link to the McCain appeal:

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/mccain_raises_off_of_iraq_visi.php

Here's what McCain's long-time friend, fellow senator and fellow Vietnam veteran John Kerry has to say about the candidate's attempt to turn the military into campaign fund-raising tool:"Sadly it's straight out of the Bush playbook that John McCain would propose a political joint photo-opportunity in Iraq, and then use it as a prop to raise a few campaign dollars even as he misstates the number of troops serving on the ground. If there's one thing the last seven years have proven, it's that photo-opportunities on aircraft carriers or strolls in a Baghdad market do nothing to advance the debate in Iraq or to create a policy worthy of our soldiers' sacrifice.

"It's deeply disappointing that Sen. McCain is using a picture of General Petraeus in uniform to raise money and launch negative attacks. Just last week Joint Chiefs Admiral Mike Mullen spoke out of conviction that our men and women in uniform should be left out of politics, not invoked for partisan purposes. The truth is, our troops and the American people deserve better than political stunts and spin about troop levels, they deserve a real and honest debate about how to change a policy that isn't making us safer. There will be a clear choice this November between four more years of George Bush's Iraq policy with Sen. McCain, or ending this war, getting out of Iraq responsibly, and strengthening our security with Barack Obama as President."

Well and properly chastised, McCain admitted that using the picture in the mailing was inappropriate. But the picture was just the illustration for a broader campaign. So the question remains: Will John McCain and his supporters ever agree to put a stop to the exploitation of the war and the military for political purposes? Answer: Don't bet on it.