Rob Portman, the Republican Party’s Senate nominee in Ohio, has chosen today — when a blistering heat wave is baking the East Coast and oil continues to pour into the Gulf of Mexico — to launch a new TV ad attacking Democratic plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the nation’s dependence on foreign oil. In a new TV ad running in Ohio, Portman warns against “a new energy tax coming our way from Washington that’s a job killer for Ohio.”
“It’s called cap-and-trade,” Portman says in the ad.
Watch:
Cap-and-trade (or, rather, attacking it as a new tax) has been a staple of GOP messaging for over a year now. Portman’s new ad puts it front and center in the Ohio Senate race, which is expected to hinge largely on economic arguments.
Portman and Democratic nominee Lee Fisher are currently locked in a tight race to replace retiring Sen. George Voinovich (R). The TPM Poll Average for the race shows a dead heat, with Fisher taking 42.5% of the vote and Portman drawing 41.4%.
