I like it:
http://www.politico.com/...
Iowa Democratic Senate candidate Bruce Braley is stepping up the attacks against Joni Ernst.
Braley’s newest ad, which debuts Tuesday and was first reported by POLITICO’s Campaign Pro, is built around two clips of Ernst talking about the minimum wage before she won the Republican primary on June 3.
A male narrator says in the 30-second spot: “Joni Ernst doesn’t think there should be a national minimum wage. … Ernst believes Iowans can survive on $15,000 a year.”
The ad says Ernst has “extreme ideas” that are “wrong for Iowa.”
The campaign says this is a “significant statewide buy.”
It comes amid heavy outside group spending from both sides — and with polls showing a tied race. Senate Majority PAC rolled out an ad Monday tying Ernst to the Koch brothers. Americans for Prosperity, Freedom Partners and now Concerned Veterans of America — all Koch-linked groups — have been on the air hitting Braley, as has American Crossroads.
Braley has also shaken up his campaign: Ad-maker Saul Shorr joined Braley’s team in June, replacing Larry Grisolano.
The ad is the first in a series, Braley campaign manager Sarah Benzing said. The congressman’s camp describes Tuesday’s spot as the start of an aggressive effort to use Ernst’s own words from before the primary to argue that her “tea party ideas are out of step with Iowa families.” Coming up are hits on Social Security, Medicare and the Renewable Fuel Standard. - Politico, 7/29/14
And Braley uses Ernst's own words against her:
http://thehill.com/...
Braley's campaign released the first of the ads, slamming Ernst for opposing a federal minimum wage and an increase in Iowa's $7.25 per hour wage.
The ad plays audio of Ernst saying "I do not support a federal minimum wage" and that she doesn't think Iowa's should be increased.
An accompanying memo from Braley's campaign outlines future attacks on Social Security, Medicare, and the Renewable Energy Standard, issues Democratic outside groups have already focused on in recent ads. - The Hill, 7/29/14
Of course Ernst dismissed the ad but she should be expecting more of them soon:
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/...
Ernst campaign spokeswoman Gretchen Hamel said in response: "Bruce Braley is so desperate that he's once again waging a dirty, false campaign. The fact is that Joni grew up working minimum-wage jobs and knows first-hand how important the minimum wage is. While Bruce Braley thinks Washington always knows best, Joni understands that a minimum wage set by Iowans, for Iowans, is the best way to help working Iowans."
This is Braley's second ad since the general election began in early June, and the first since a campaign shakeup last month when Braley let his pollster and media consultant go.
In coming weeks, Braley will "introduce Joni Ernst and her tea party ideas" on Social Security, Medicare and the renewable fuel standard to voters, Braley campaign manager Sarah Benzing said in a memo emailed to supporters and the press this morning. - Des Moines Register, 7/29/14
But the reality is Ernst is on the wrong side of this issue and 65% of Iowans:
http://thinkprogress.org/...
But stagnant wages have not helped Iowans. The current $7.25 minimum wage — the national wage floor since 2009 — would mean that a 40-hour-a-week employee would only earn about $15,000 annually. Progress Iowa has estimated that more than 300,000 Iowans would receive a pay raise if the minimum were raised to $10.10, as Braley has proposed. That amounts to about 10 percent of the state’s population.
Neighboring Missouri and Illinois have higher wages than the national minimum. But having a national minimum wage prevents a “race to the bottom” where businesses locate jobs in states where they can get away with paying workers the least possible amounts.
This is not the first time Ernst has argued for an anti-federalist “states rights” approach. At a September candidate forum, posted online on Monday by The Daily Beast, Ernst suggested a radical “tenther” view of the U.S. Constitution that allows state legislatures to nullify federal laws that they don’t like. She told the Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition, “As [a] U.S. Senator why should we be passing laws that the states are considering nullifying? Bottom line: our legislators at the federal level should not be passing those laws.” These nullification claims were popular among southern activists in the 1800s and segregationists in the 1960s. - Think Progress, 7/29/14
In fact, Braley has already been hitting Ernst on issues like Medicare and Social Security:
This month marks the anniversary of President Lyndon B. Johnson signing Medicare into law. For 49 years, the program has provided seniors in Iowa and across the country with access to prescriptions and critical care.
But instead of preserving Medicare, my opponent Joni Ernst -- along with her Tea Party allies -- supports Paul Ryan’s plan to destroy Medicare as we know it by turning it into a voucher system.
This month, I’m joining with a group of Democratic Senators and Representatives pledging to protect Medicare, and we’d like to have you on board -- sign our petition and stand up for Medicare today.
http://www.standformedicare.com/...
The Tea Party’s radical agenda is dangerous for seniors and for the future of our country.
And if they get their way in this year’s election, they could tie Social Security to the whims of Wall Street and put an end to the guaranteed health care coverage that Medicare provides.
I have always stood up for Iowa’s seniors -- and I’d refuse to put the future of Medicare at risk. Help me and my colleagues continue fighting to protect Medicare. Add your voice to our petition.
http://www.standformedicare.com/...
Thank you for your help on this.
Bruce
Click here to add your name:
http://www.standformedicare.com/...
And click here to donate and get involved with Braley's campaign:
http://www.brucebraley.com/