Dems, MoveOn Target GOP Lawmakers Opposing Stimulus
MoveOn, which claims a membership of 5 million, asked members to "pledge now to make sure senators know that voters will hold them accountable for their vote."
"...right now, the stimulus doesn't have the votes to pass," the group said, citing an Associated Press report that GOP leaders doubt the bill will attract enough support to get through the Senate. "Republicans and conservative Democrats are teaming up to strip out the good stuff—college loan assistance, health research, tax cuts for poor folks, and more—in favor of more tax cuts for corporations. If they don't get their way, they'll block the plan."
Last week, MoveOn and other groups launched an ad campaign pushing five GOP senators – Susan Collins, R-Maine, Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, Judd Gregg, R- N.H., Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, – to back the bill.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, meanwhile, has launched a national radio campaign targeting Republican lawmakers who opposed the bill in the House. (The bill got no support from House Republicans.)
"The ads are tailored to highlight specific elements of the bill that House Democrats believe will resonate with voters," reports the Washington Post. "Some knock the GOP members for voting against a bill that cut taxes for '95 percent of American workers,' while others are tailored for specific districts, such as one that hits freshman Rep. Christopher Lee (R-N.Y.) for opposing legislation that would 'immediately create and save over 390,000 New York jobs.'"
More than two dozen Republicans are being targeted in the ads, including Minority Whip Eric Cantor. The DCCC also plans to send out three million e-mails and make 100,000 phone calls.