GOP Attack Group Hits 2nd Georgia Dem

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The Economic Freedom Fund has moved on its fifth target: Rep. John Barrow (D-GA).

Starting this past Saturday, the group, which is backed with $5 million from Swift Boat Vets funder Bob Perry, started airing an attack ad against Barrow, hitting him for “[helping] trial lawyers” and “[hurting] small businesses.”

You can see the group’s TV ad here:

The group dropped $120,968 for nine days of the ad, which brings their known expenditures to about $1.07 million nationwide. A recent poll conducted by a Republican firm showed Barrow narrowly leading his challenger, former Rep. Max Burns.

But that ad isn’t the only weapon the group is wielding against Barrow. Like the group’s other ambushes, their tactics in GA-12 have also included negative fliers and misleading robo calls. Barrow spokesman Harper Lawson said that the calls, which hit the candidate on hot issues like immigration and gay marriage, campaign have prompted calls from supporters. “They’re short and nasty,” Lawson said of the calls, which were first reported the day after Labor Day.

Barrow is the second Dem target attacked by EFF in Georgia. Jim Marshall, in the state’s 3rd district, has been hit with negative ads, flyers and robo calls in the past couple weeks. Both conservative Dems were affected by a 2004 redistricting by the state’s Republican legislature — Barrow lost his hometown, the Dem stronghold of Athens. CQ Politics rates both races as “Leans Democratic.”

The Economic Freedom Forum’s other targets so far this election are Reps. Leonard Boswell (D-IA), Alan Mollohan (D-WV) and Baron Hill, who’s the challenger in Indiana’s 9th. All are leading their races.

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