Trailing badly in the polls, Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) is hoping to improve her fortunes with some fear of a coming push to privatize social security, and with some straight talk about her health care vote.
The TPM Poll Average shows the Republican nominee, Rep. John Boozman, leading the race 60.3-31.2. In her new spots, Lincoln tells voters that a vote for the Republican will be a vote to end social security as we know it — and a vote for the 23-cent federal sales tax favored by so-called “fair tax” advocates.
Lincoln also refers to her tough primary fight with Lt. Gov. Bill Halter, which saw millions of dollars in union and netroots money pour into Arkansas, fueled by progressive anger over her opposition to card check and a public option in the health care reform bill.
“A few months ago, the Washington unions attacked me for being too conservative,” Lincoln complains in one of the ads. “Now, Congressman John Boozman says I’m too liberal. These are serious times that deserve better than partisan labels.”
In the other spot, Lincoln tells Arkansas voters she understands why they might be wary when it comes to reelecting her.
“Everywhere I go, I’ve gotten an earful about how I voted on health care,” Lincoln says. “Some of you are angry that it went too far, and others say it didn’t go far enough.”
“There’s no easy way to fix health care,” Lincoln says later. “But I worked to find the balance — and I’ll never stop working to make it better for Arkansas.”
Watch:
Evan McMorris-Santoro
Evan McMorris-Santoro has covered politics for TPM since 2009. Before that, he was a reporter at National Journal’s Hotline covering election 2008. He started his career covering local politics at newspapers in TN and his native NC.
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