Koch-backed group targets nine Democrats in seven-figure ad buy
Americans for Prosperity (AFP), which is backed by the conservative Koch brothers, is flooding the web with a seven-figure ad buy targeting nine Democrats, five senators and four representatives, ahead of the midterm elections.
Six of the ads target the politicians for their votes in favor of the Affordable Care Act, with several reminding viewers that Mr. Obama's promise that, "if you like your health plan, you can keep it," was named the Lie of the Year by fact-checking website PolitiFact in 2013.
A few lawmakers get special treatment, though. Alaska Sen. Mark Begich is called out for missing more votes than 80 percent of his colleagues in the Senate. Sen. Kay Hagan is hammered by a North Carolina mother for voting in favor of increased spending. And the ad aimed at Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana highlights the fact that she owns a $2 million residence in Washington, D.C.
"Easy to forget your roots in a place like that, especially after almost 20 years in D.C.," the narrator says.
Landrieu's residency is playing a role in what is already a major uphill battle to re-election after a report in the Washington Post last week revealed that she listed her parents' home address in New Orleans as her voting residence.
"It is disappointing to see so many lawmakers around the country supporting the Obama Agenda, even at the expense of doing what is best for the families they were elected to represent," AFP President Tim Phillips said in a statement. "Our message to these representatives from Alaska to New Hampshire is this: start putting people before politics, and to rethink their support for harmful, short-sighted policies that are putting Americans' health and prosperity at risk."
The other ads target Sens. Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Mark Udall of Colorado, as well as Reps. Ron Barber of Arizona, Joe Garcia of Florida, Ann Kuster of New Hamphsire and Nick Rahall of West Virginia.
Republicans are expected to maintain control of the House in the midterm elections but would need to pick up six seats in the Senate to throw Democrats out of power.
AFP is one of the conservative groups funded in part by billionaire brothers David and Charles Koch, who are a frequent target of Democratic scornbecause of their ability to inject vast amounts of money into politics. The same day AFP announced their ads buy, the AFL-CIO said they were launching a "multifaceted campaign beginning with national television advertising" to introduce two women to the country named Karen and Joyce Koch.
The sisters "share the same last name, but not the same values as the Koch Brothers. The Koch Sisters will bring the issues most Americans care about - from fair wages to protecting Social Security - to the forefront of the political debate," the labor organization said in a press release.
They promised to share the "virtues" of the women with the country. Karen Koch is college professor, and Joyce Koch is a retired American Federation of Teachers teacher who spent most of her career as a social worker and an administrator for an anti-poverty organization.
"We don't have billions of dollars to spend on political campaigns, but we do have our convictions and our voices. We think that's important," Joyce Koch said in a statement.