Attack Ads Fly In Special House Election, Over Stimulus Bill And AIG Bonuses

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The attack ads are getting pretty intense in the March 31 special election for Kirsten Gillibrand’s old House seat, with the Democrat blasting the Republican for opposing the stimulus bill — and the Republican launching an ad accusing the Dem of supporting the AIG bonuses.

Here’s the new ad from Democratic candidate Scott Murphy, going after Republican Jim Tedisco for saying a few days ago that he would have voted no on the stimulus bill:

“Here’s the answer, folks, get ready,” we see Tedisco saying in footage from Monday. “No!” The repetition of the “No!” video is reminiscent of all those Americans United For Change ads, taking GOP leaders who say “no” and tying them to Rush Limbaugh.

Meanwhile, Tedisco has this spot accusing Murphy of supporting the AIG bonuses. The rationale here from the Tedisco camp over the last couple days has been to attack the stimulus bill because of the last-minute amendment that limited executive pay but didn’t make it retroactive. This ad makes it sound like Murphy supports the very bonuses themselves — not just the overall stimulus bill:

“And he supported a loophole letting AIG executives keep their bonuses, with our money,” the announcer says. “AIG and Murphy — he’s one of them.”

Murphy’s camp has insisted that he does not favor the AIG bonuses — and they turn the issue around by accusing Tedisco of opposing the compensation limits that are in the stimulus package, since he opposes the whole bill.

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