PA-SEN

If Sestak Beats Specter He'll Have Bush To Thank

Christina Bellantoni | May 14, 2010, 1:04PM

Former President George W. Bush and Arlen Specter

Tuesday's Democratic primary election in Pennsylvania remains a tossup in the final stretch, but if Rep. Joe Sestak pulls it off and defeats Sen. Arlen Specter, it will be thanks in part to his advertising strategy.

The state's voters at first didn't know Sestak, who has been viewed as the scrappy challenger to the longtime moderate senator since Specter defected from the Republican party in Spring 2009. While support for Specter has held steady for months in voter polls, Sestak started creeping up right about the time both candidates went on television. People on the ground in Pennsylvania think it's the Sestak attack ad that repeatedly links Specter to former President George W. Bush that was the most effective.

The ad -- which Sestak has spent at least $1.5 million running, a source tells me -- was described by one TPM reader as "devastating." It tries to paint Specter as a political opportunist who only switched parties to save himself. The Bush images and Specter quotes from just a few years ago serve to remind voters of his Republican loyalties and helped to drive up Specter's negatives which were already high from years of serving the state, one top Pennsylvania journalist told me.

Read more »

Ad wars

Health Care Foes Dramatically Outspend Pro-Reform Groups In TV Ad Wars (VIDEO)

Christina Bellantoni | March 17, 2010, 10:24AM

New data shows groups fighting to sink health care reform legislation on Capitol Hill have spent about $5.5 million on television ads in the last 30 days, far outpacing pro-reform groups who have spent about $200,000 in the same time period.

Evan Tracey, president of the Campaign Media Analysis group which tracks ad spending, gave me the totals in an interview this morning as more reports from spending in local Congressional districts pore in to his office.

Campaign Media Analysis estimates that $28 million has been spent on health care television ads since Dec. 15. That figure is about equally split between opponents and proponents of the bills, but the numbers have grown increasingly lopsided in recent days. Tracey said that on Tuesday alone ad spending totaled about $750,000 with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is at the top of the heap, spending about $550,000 per day on ads opposing the bill.

Read more »

Ad wars

NRCC Releases Attack Ad For Post-Health Care Era

Rachel Slajda | March 16, 2010, 12:16PM

The National Republican Congressional Committee today released an ad it will run against Democrats who vote for the health care reform bill. The NRCC will run the ad after the health care vote, it said, during March Madness basketball games.

The ad calls on specific Democrats to "Stop the corruption. Stop the madness."

Watch:

Read more »

Ad wars

AHIP Full-Page Ad: 'Health Insurers Make Health Care More Affordable'

Rachel Slajda | March 16, 2010, 9:53AM

AHIP, the health insurance companies' professional organization, is out with a full-page ad today in the Wall Street Journal which claims, in part, that "Health insurers make health care more affordable."

The ad will also run tomorrow in USA Today, according to Politico.

Read more »

Health Care

AFSCME, Americans United For Change Attack Insurers With New Pro-Reform Ad

Rachel Slajda | March 16, 2010, 9:16AM

The municipal workers' union, AFSCME, and Americans United for Change has released an ad that targets the "greed" of insurance companies.

The groups spent $200,000 to run the ad on cable news in the D.C. area, and on CBS during the NCAA basketball tournament this week.

"If the insurance companies win, we lose," the ad reads, and includes footage of men in ties high-fiving.

Watch:

Read more »

Health Care

Health Care Ad Wars: TV Spots Amp Up As Final Vote Nears (VIDEO)

Christina Bellantoni | March 10, 2010, 9:56AM

A still from an AHIP ad.

After a cooling off period when health care reform legislation seemed nearly dead, television ad spending is now spiking. Interest groups attempting to swap public opinion and votes in Washington on both sides of the debate are funneling cash into health care ads that experts predict won't let up until after the midterm elections.

"We're going to see a fairly intense couple of weeks as health care reaches the endgame, but advertising related to this issue will only continue," Evan Tracey, president of the Campaign Media Analysis group which tracks ad spending, told me in an interview this morning.

America's Health Insurance Plans and Health Care for America Now sparred yesterday on the air over high costs of insurance and the massive rate hikes we've been tracking at TPMDC.

Read more »