The American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) has rolled out a new series of ads, taking on Republican candidates from Colorado, Michigan, Nevada, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
The first ad welcomes us into Colorado Senate nominee “Ken Buck’s World”. Here, Social Security is “a horrible policy,” Medicare is a “symptom of a much larger problem,” and votes should be cast on the basis of “not wearing high heels.” The TPM Poll Average has the Republican leading Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet 48.0%-44.6%.
Next up is former Rep. Tim Walberg, who is running in Michigan’s 7th District to reclaim the seat Rep. Mark Schauer (D) won from him in 2008. The ad focuses on the Republican’s support for outsourcing jobs. The TPM Poll Average has the incumbent Democrat leading the race 44.6%-41.4%.
Sharron Angle, Republican nominee in the Nevada Senate race, gets hammered by “Real People” (the ad’s title) for telling rape victims to “make a lemon situation into lemonade.” The TPM Poll Average finds Angle edging out Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, 48.5%-47.4%.
Republican former Rep. John Kasich, running in Ohio’s gubernatorial race, is called out for his work on Wall Street, including pressuring “Ohio pension officials to invest in Lehman Brothers.” He is currently on top of Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland 48.3%-43.8%, according to the TPM Poll Average.
The next target has a history with AFSCME — in August, Republican Congressional candidate Jim Renacci took the union to court, claiming they defamed him by stating in their ads that he had lied on his taxes. Taxes are the issue once again in this ad, but cast in a much different light– “Jim Renacci supports a 23% sales tax on everything.” The Republican is taking on Democratic incumbent Rep. John Boccieri in Ohio’s 16th Congressional district.
The final ad goes straight to the people, posing the question, “What’s wrong with millionaire Mike Kelly?” What follows is a group of people providing various reasons why the don’t like the Republican nominee in Pennsylvania’s 3rd Congressional District.
