National Democrats Hit Tom Cotton on Social Security

By Kyle Trygstad

Posted August 28, 2014 at 11:05am

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee released a new TV ad in Arkansas Thursday that continues a theme of portraying Republican Rep. Tom Cotton as someone voters can’t trust.

The DSCC’s latest spot is part of a total $3.6 million investment to support Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor, whose brand has helped make him competitive for re-election in this Republican-leaning state and in a challenging national environment for his party.

The ad targets the freshman congressman on Social Security. It features Brett Smith of Helena, Ark., vocalizing his concern for his retirement.

“I can see my retirement from here, but every time I see Tom Cotton I feel it slipping away,” Smith says in the ad. www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_LLnE_rnsk

In earlier ads this month, the committee had accused Cotton of voting against funding for a children’s hospital — something Cotton disputed in an ad of his own.

The Cotton campaign also released a new ad Thursday to help introduce the congressman statewide. It focuses on his military service, including being stationed in Iraq and at Arlington National Cemetery, and shows him in uniform.

“Serious times demand serious leaders,” Cotton says in the ad.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZXUZXwg6BE

The race is rated Tilts Republican by The Rothenberg Political Report/Roll Call.