Ads Attacking on Health Law Stagger Outspent Democrats

[alp227]

Source: NYT

WASHINGTON — Democrats are increasingly anxious about an onslaught of television ads hitting vulnerable Senate and House candidates for their support of the new health law, since many lack the resources to fight back in the early stages of the midterm campaign.

Since September, Americans for Prosperity, a group financed in part by the billionaire Koch brothers, has spent an estimated $20 million on television advertising that calls out House and Senate Democrats by name for their support of the Affordable Care Act.

The unusually aggressive early run of television ads, which has been supplemented by other conservative initiatives, has gone largely unanswered, and strategists in both parties agree it is taking a toll on its targets.

Building on the success, the deep-pocketed organization disclosed on Tuesday that it was expanding its Senate efforts with $1.8 million in airtime to attack Democratic House members running for the Senate in Iowa and Michigan, where Democrats are viewed as holding an early advantage. The group was also moving into Montana, a state where Democrats may struggle to defend a seat, on behalf of a Republican House member running for the Senate.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/15/us/politics/ads-attacking-on-health-law-stagger-outspent-democrats.html

[SunSeeker]

1. Yeah, how awful of that Democrat to bring you healthcare.

[Arugula Latte]

13. It's worse than Katrina!

Trying to help people get healthcare and prevent bankruptcy and untreated illness is far, far more egregious than letting people suffer and drown.

[lostincalifornia]

2. They should fu*king be scared, of betraying the Democratic ideals, and progressives

[CBHagman]

6. Who are "they"?

Are you referring to incumbent Democrats and/or Democratic candidates running to replace retiring lawmakers?

[lostincalifornia]

11. I am referring to those democrats such as Joe Manchin, and others who have been siding with the

republicans on not trying to make the ACA work, but working with republicans to try and delay and weaken the ACA.

I am also infuriated with Democrats undercutting the Administration's negotiation with Iran, by not giving 6 months to see what happens, but try to undercut the potential for peace

[CBHagman]

17. Manchin's not up for reelection in 2014.

He's not among the lawmakers listed as Koch targets in The New York Times article, either, but Jeanne Shaheen, a pro-choice Democrat running in a swing state, is.

[bemildred]

3. Ask Sheldon what he got for all that money. nt

[merrily]

4. What have Republicans offered to show they give a damn about people's lives?

[valerief]

8. They've offered THE WORLD to the .001%. nt

[RBInMaine]

5. Where is Soros on this? The Kennedys? Bloomberg? Unions? DNC? MoveOn? They need to get off their

asses and get a counter-attack fund here. This is what Democrats need to learn: HIT BACK HARDER AND BLOODY THEIR NOSES AND BLACKEN THEIR EYES.

[DinahMoeHum]

7. +1

n/t

[SunSeeker]

14. The real question is where are WE?

Soros? Nowhere near the money the Kochs have.

The Kennedys? Not the powerhouse they used to be.

Bloomberg? Come on, he's just a Republican who hates guns.

Unions? They're fighting for their lives, they need to pick their battles.

DNC? Overstretched.

MoveOn? Little money, no power.

Our power is our numbers. WE have to get off our ass and make sure we support these Dems, as well as blacken the GOP's eyes, or at least vote.

[RBInMaine]

15. Yes, I agree. But what I'm talking about is ALL these entities teaming up and working together.

Including US, of course.

[SunSeeker]

16. Sigh. Yes.

As Will Rogers once said, I'm not a member of an organized political party. I'm a Democrat.

[wordpix]

19. I am here ready to be in ad---preexisting condition would have left me w/out insurance, period.

With the ACA, I can now get insurance once old policy runs out in Feb. Thanks to ACA, new policy is affordable.

True, the website did not work in my state in Dec. and I spent days working with state people so I could sign up. However, I am now on the rolls for Feb. and affordable care is coming as opposed to, "We're dropping your coverage b/c you need it and you now have to pay 100% out of pocket."

[EC]

9. If the Dems don't start sinking money and energy behind the ACA

the repubs will make this like 2010. They retreated and just about threw up their hands allowing the tea people free reign to lie and make lasting myths about ACA that it's hard to get people to listen. But we won't get people to listen if we don't start screaming at the top of our lungs that ACA is a good thing. It seems our elected Dems just leave the President out there hanging with no on picking up the staff and joining the fight. They just fold.

[Demeter]

10. All the Democratic Candidates have to do is announce support for Universal Single Payer

as the next step in building the Commonwealth. Problem solved, Kochs confounded, Progress made.

[jwirr]

12. Come on Dems don't back off now. The ACA will prove itself before the election. One way to

win this is to point out in your ads just how much the rethugs have and are spending to defeat ACA. No one likes to think their vote is being bought. Fight this issue from that point.

[wordpix]

18. we should all pay out of pocket for health care, just like the Koch Bro w/ cancer did

I guess that's how he paid his bills if the insurance cos. wouldn't cover him for his pre-existing condition.

We all have hundreds of thousand$ sitting around for operations and chemo, right?