DSCC launches ad against McConnell

2007-07-11

Source: Lexington Herald-Ledger

Sensing political weakness, national Democrats launched a television ad in Kentucky yesterday blasting U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for supporting President Bush’s Iraq war policy.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee’s 30-second ad pushes the image of McConnell, R-Ky., as a staunch supporter of Bush, placing the senator’s photo next to the president’s and over top images of soldiers in Iraq.

The spot tells viewers that the situation in Iraq “isn’t improving, but instead of doing the right thing, Sen. McConnell just gives us more of the same,” while text on the screen emphasizes that “McConnell voted with Bush four times...against bringing our troops home.”

It then urges viewers to call McConnell and “tell him it’s time to do the right thing.” Unlike similar issue-advocacy commercials, it does not provide a phone number for the senator’s office.

The commercial is running in the Louisville, Lexington, Cincinnati, and Evansville, Ind., markets, as well as the West Virginia stations that spill over into Eastern Kentucky, said Matthew Miller, a spokesman for the DSCC.

Miller wouldn’t say how much the group is spending on the ad, which is timed to coincide with the U.S. Senate’s upcoming vote on Iraq war funding.

“Our strategy is always to make sure constituents know when their senators aren’t acting with voters’ wants and desires,” Miller said. “Kentuckians have made it clear they want change in Iraq and McConnell blocks it every time.”

Read More...

---