'This is a Mistake We Definitely Should Not Have Made'

He supports the troops. The German troops from World War II, that is. Let's face it: Nobody ever accused these Democrats of being too bright.

A Democratic politician's attempt to show his support for U.S. troops backfired after his campaign flier mistakenly featured a photo portraying advancing German WWII soldiers.

North Carolina state legislator Tim Spear, 58, apologized Wednesday after his direct mail campaign distributed fliers showing four re-enactors advancing in combat uniforms at a show in England in 2008.

The accompanying text read, “In combat, you always want another soldier covering your back.”

“It was not only an insult to our military men and women and our veterans, but it was a personal insult to me,” Spear said in a letter to local newspapers. “Even though I did not prepare it, it was sent in my name. And I apologized to the constituents.”

Mike Brown, an account executive at the Washington-based consulting firm that produced the flier, MSHC Partners, said no one in the firm’s art department noticed it showed the wrong troops. “This is a mistake we definitely should not have made,” Brown said. “A picture’s worth a thousand words, and with this, the picture conveyed the wrong words.”