Rep. Charlie Bass (R-NH) has become the latest Republican to face his vote for Medicare-ending House budget in the form of a TV ad. In the first major ad buy since Democrats used the issue to pull off a surprise win in the NY-26 special election, progressives are targeting Bass over his vote for Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) budget plan, which eliminates Medicare and replaces it with a voucher system.
The Progressive Change Campaign Committee and Democracy For America say they hope to do significant damage to Bass, as well as bolster their choice to replace him, Ann Kuster. She’s the progressive star who barely lost to Bass in 2010 after defeating Sen. Joe Lieberman’s presidential campaign chair for the Democratic nomination. Kuster’s running again this year.
Kuster is the exact type of Democrat progressives want to send to Congress. And they’ve got poll numbers that show voters in Bass’ district are more inclined to agree with them after the Medicare vote.
TPM obtained results from a Public Policy Polling (D) survey conducted for PCCC/DFA this week. The poll of 534 likely voters in Bass’ 2nd Congressional District shows voters there are not happy with Bass’ support for the Ryan plan.
Just 25% say they approve of Bass’ vote for the Ryan budget, as the progressive groups described it (“end the federal Medicare program as it exists today, and turn it into a voucher system where seniors are forced to buy private insurance.”) An overwhelming majority, 64%, said they disapproved. The poll has a margin of error of 4.2%.
National polls have shown similarly broad disapproval of the Ryan plan with more neutral wording.
The PPP numbers suggest Bass is vulnerable to the same kind of ads that helped seal the win for Democrats in the New York special. The progressive groups aren’t waiting around — they’re taking on Bass now, more than a year before the next election. The TV ad began on Thursday with a $25,000 run that will see it aired on broadcast and cable throughout New Hampshire.
Sponsors of the ad want it to mean more than bad news for just Bass — Mitt Romney is launching his presidential campaign in New Hampshire on Thursday, and he won’t be the only would-be Republican presidential nominee to tramp through the Granite State while the PCCC/DFA ad runs. PCCC say the ad could keep the uncomfortable topic of the Medicare plan in voters’ minds while the New Hampshire primary campaign begins in earnest.
Here’s the ad running against Bass, first posted this morning by Greg Sargent:
