Updated December 8, 5:10 p.m. ET
Crossroads GPS, the sister group of the super-PAC American Crossroads, has a new $1.1 million ad buy for TV ads in four key Senate races in Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana and Nebraska.
The group, in which Karl Rove has been a key player, previously aired an ad in Massachusetts that tied former White House financial reform adviser Elizabeth Warren to the Occupy Wall Street movement, depicting them as a mob of radical socialist vandals — but in this one, she is cast as a Wall Street buddy!
“Congress had Warren oversee how your tax dollars were spent — bailing out the same banks that helped cause the financial meltdown,” the announcer says. “Bailouts that helped pay big bonuses to bank executives, while middle-class Americans lost out. Later, Warren went on a ‘charm offensive’ with some of the same banks who got bailed out. Tell Professor Warren, we need jobs — not more bailouts and bigger government.”
This ad in Missouri attacks incumbent Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill on spending and the debt:
And this ad in Montana also attacks incumbent Democratic Sen. Jon Tester on federal spending and the national debt, compared to his campaign rhetoric from 2006:
The ad in Nebraska attacks incumbent Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson on his vote for health care reform, and his efforts to secure special money for Nebraska in the deal. “He demanded a payoff — accused of selling his vote,” the announcer says — making it sound as if Nelson was seeking a personal bribe, rather than carved out money for his home state.
Late Update: Asked for comment by TPM, Warren spokesman Kyle Sullivan e-mailed this statement:
“Elizabeth was an outspoken critic of the bank bailout and it’s blank check to Wall Street. And that’s just one fact that makes these ads ridiculous. The Wall Street bankers financing these attacks are desperate to stop Elizabeth Warren because she’s worked so hard to stop Wall Street from ripping off middle class families. Elizabeth’s worked to keep both the banks and the government accountable. Those are the facts. The people of Massachusetts don’t need more fast talk from Wall Street, they need a fighter like Elizabeth taking on Wall Street.”