GOP Uses Obama To Attack Democrats

For the first time this election cycle, Congressional Republicans have invoked Barack Obama's name to dissuade voters from voting for a Democratic candidate.

The National Republican Congressional Committee is up with a new ad in an upcoming Louisiana special election tying the Democratic nominee, state Rep. Don Cazayoux, with Obama.

"A vote for Don Cazayoux is a vote for Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi," said the narrator in the ad. "Cazayoux also supports Barack Obama's radical agenda on health care."

Cazayoux is facing Republican former state Rep. Woody Jenkins in a hotly-contested special election to succeed former Rep. Richard Baker (R-La.) in a Republican-leaning Baton Rouge district. Cazayoux's internal polling have shown him with a small lead, but he has recently been hit with a barrage of attacks from the NRCC and the conservative group Freedom's Watch.

Freedom's Watch, a conservative advocacy group founded by former Bush administration officials last year, is also up with a new ad accusing both Obama and Cazayoux of supporting a "big government scheme" for health care.

Republicans clearly believe that Obama is viewed unfavorably in more-conservative parts of the country, and could be a drag on Democrats running for re-election in Republican-leaning districts. This advertisement will offer an early test of whether that strategy will be effective.