Health Care Ad Wars Heat Up as Recess Begins
The health care ad assault continues this week, led by a $1.2 million ad campaign launched by conservative anti-tax group Club for Growth.
The Club is targeting members of the House and Senate from four states whom it believes “may be persuaded to reject a government-run health insurance program” — read, centrist Democrats, many with competitive contests on the horizon.
Those targeted include: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada; Sens. Michael Bennet and Mark Udall of Colorado; Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor of Arkansas; and Byron L. Dorgan and Kent Conrad of North Dakota.
Democratic represenatives include Marion Berry, Vic Snyder and Mike Ross of Arkansas; Diana DeGette, Jared Polis, John Salazar, Betsy Markey and Ed Perlmutter of Colorado; and Earl Pomeroy of North Dakota.
The ads, which Club for Growth said will “run throughout the August recess,” seeks to play up seniors’ fear that the Democrats’ proposed health care overhaul will lead to government intervention in end-of-life decisions, or as Minority Leader John A. Boehner of Ohio and House Republican Policy Committee Chairman Thaddeus McCotter of Michigan less artfully put it last week, “government-encouraged euthanasia.”