Sam Stein has the goods on SEIU's new online campaign targeting Senators Lincoln, Pryor, Specter, and Webb:
The Service Employees International Union is, according to an aide, putting "well more than $100,000" behind online ads and similar promotional activities designed to turn up the heat on members of Congress whose support for EFCA is tepid or non-existent.
Targeting Democratic Senators Mark Pryor and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, Jim Webb of Virginia, and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, as well as Republican David Vitter of Louisiana, the message is at once effective and sharp: To oppose the labor-backed legislation would be to side with the institutions that create the current economic malaise.
Check out the web ads and more info after the jump.
After a disastrous week for the Chamber of Commerce, which Laura Clawson noted on Sunday, there's an opening to hammer the business groups. In emails to online activists about these new ads, SEIU writes:
Last week hundreds of CEOs and other businesspeople flew to Washington, DC to pressure your senators. They want Senators Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor to stand with the same greedy CEOs who wrecked our economy in the first place.
I need you to fight back. We just produced this ad making it clear that Senators Lincoln and Pryor can't stand with CEOs. Watch our new ad and send your message to Senators Lincoln and Pryor now.
The web ads draw a line for these senators: stand with the working people of their state, or with the same CEOs who brought down the economy in the first place.
"Big banks and greedy corporations got our country into this mess," reads the script, which is tailored to each individual Senator and state. "Now they want to fire or harass employees who want to join a union."
Sam Stein elaborates on what this means:
What is remarkable is the willingness of the SEIU to publicly target this quartet of Democrats on EFCA. It is an indication of just where the debate currently lies. Indeed, in private, union officials say they are confidant that they can get EFCA passed. But the details of the legislation will be largely determined by the willingness these recalcitrant Democrats to compromise.
And here are the ads for your enjoyment:
Arkansas
Louisiana
Pennsylvania
Virginia