Pay attention Dems...this is how it's done:
Richard Blumenthal's new ad thrashes Linda McMahon on her paying lobbyists over a million dollars to "duck taxes, kill steroid & drug testing laws and avoid health and safety protections for her workers". The ad then contrasts Blumenthal's stance against Wall Street bailouts, against giving tax giveaways to big oil or drug companies, and in favor of a tax cut for middle class families.
How good is this ad? Check out the Hartford Courant's claim check review:
Anyone who doubts how high the stakes are in a national election should peruse the documentation gathered by the Blumenthal campaign to create this ad: more than 900 pages of testimony, news clippings, lobbyist disclosure forms and other records.
Those documents amply confirm the million-dollar figure, though that money was paid by WWE, not by McMahon personally. There is also a bit of blurring around dates and jurisdictions. The dollar amount is based on disclosures filed with Congress that show just over $1 million in payments to federal lobbyists over the past 10 years. Most of the ad, however, refers to lobbying activities at the state level during the 1980s and 1990s, when it appears a smaller amount of money was paid to lobbyists. Nevertheless, it is accurate to claim that, overall, WWE has spent $1 million on lobbyists.
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While McMahon did not personally hire the lobbyists, given her role in WWE, even 20 or more years ago, it is not a great stretch for the ad to assert that she paid lobbyists to protect her interests. And while some will take issue with the ad’s derogatory shorthand description of the lobbying efforts, records show that WWE’s lobbyists were involved in those efforts, and the ad, though obviously accentuating the negative, does not falsely describe the legislation that was passed or blocked.
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Supporters of McMahon will perceive purer motives for the lobbying efforts than are insinuated by this ad. But the ad makes its partisan points without skewing the facts. As such, ClaimCheck deems the ad generally truthful.
Read the entire review - there's a lot more there, and it's textbook on how to hit your opponent hard with the truth: http://www.courant.com/...
My take on what Blumenthal is doing: as a popular AG he has always advocated for consumer protections and consumer rights, and he is now occupying the role of the economic populist in the Connecticut Senate race. He has successfully branded McMahon as the candidate of big business (and big, shady business at that), and this ad reinforces that narrative.
Anyone who wants to know why he's been consistently increasing his lead in this race needs to look at this ad, and examine how Blumenthal and his campaign have consistently employed the phrase "profits before people" when describing Linda McMahon.
When Democrats run on protecting people over profits, they win.
Update: p.s., if you'd like to support Mr. Blumenthal's campaign, follow this link: http://www.richardblumenthal.com/