So have you heard about the latest attack ad against Senator Mark Pryor (D. AR)? Now you have:
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/...
A conservative group is attacking Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR), who is up for re-election in 2014, with a TV ad buy demanding he refuse to let President Barack Obama fill three judicial vacancies on the powerful D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The Judicial Crisis Network, a right-wing activist organization focused on the courts, has taken out what it claims is a six-figure ad buy airing the spot below for two weeks on Little Rock television, a spokesman for the group said.
"Pryor is helping Obama pack a key court with new liberal judges, who will review the EPA, the IRS, and agencies Obama is using to push his unconstitutional job-killing agenda," says a narrator in the ad. "When Mark Pryor rubber stamps Obama’s liberal judges, it hurts Arkansas."
Pryor campaign spokesman Erik Dorey responded swiftly in an email to TPM, "Another day, another false attack from Tom Cotton's Washington special interest pals trying to smear Mark Pryor because he looks after Arkansans." - TPM, 11/8/13
Here's a little background info:
http://www.politico.com/...
The ad is slated to run on the same day the Senate will consider the nomination of Nina Pillard to the circuit court, a nomination the GOP is widely expected to block regardless of Pryor’s support.
Battles over judicial nominees rarely resonate outside Washington. But the commercial focuses solely on Obama’s attempt this year to fill three vacancies on the important court that arbitrates disputes between the private sector and government agencies — many of which are viewed with deep suspicion in red Arkansas. Pryor is girding for a difficult reelection challenge against Rep. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) in a state that’s steadily became more conservative in recent years.
“Mark Pryor voted for every one of Obama’s liberal activist judges. Every single one. Now Pryor is helping Obama pack a key court with new liberal judges who will review the EPA, the IRS and agencies Obama is using to push his unconstitutional job-killing agenda,” the ad says as the names of judges Pryor has supported scroll past the screen. “When Mark Pryor rubber-stamps Obama’s liberal judges, it hurts Arkansas. Enough is enough. Tell Mark Pryor to go work for Arkansas, not Obama.”
Pryor’s campaign pushed back by noting that Pryor’s support for dozens of George W. Bush’s judicial nominees and declaring the Judicial Crisis Network one of Cotton’s “special interest pals.” - Politico, 11/11/13
No here's a little info about the group backing these ads:
http://thinkprogress.org/...
The Judicial Crisis Network, a right-wing group that advocates for a conservative judiciary, has launched a TV ad campaign against Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR). The $100,000-plus expenditure slams Pryor for supporting cloture on President Obama’s three appointees to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. But the group, originally called the Judicial Confirmation Network, was among the most vocal supporters of “fair” treatment of judicial nominees during the George W. Bush administration, including up-or-down majority votes for all.
When Democrats filibustered some Bush nominees, the Judicial Confirmation Network formed to push for judges to be confirmed by a simple majority in the Senate. “JCN works to ensure that the confirmation process for all judicial nominees is fair and that every nominee sent to the full Senate receives an up or down vote,” they said on their official website. From 2005 through 2008, the group urged “filibuster reform” and fought to make sure no one nominated to be a federal judge was subject to a three-fifths threshold. In a 2005 press conference, the group’s counsel argued that the Constitution required judges be confirmed by a majority vote in the Senate and that that applies regardless of the party of the president:
WENDY LONG: One other thing, and that is that if at some point in the future there is a Democratic president and a Democratic majority in the Senate, they, under Article II of the Constitution, will have the same imperative and the same obligation and the same duty. The president selects the judges. So if it were President Kerry, under Article II of the Constitution, President Kerry would be the one who would nominate the judges, and a majority of the Senate would then be able to say yes or not to President Kerry’s nominations. It’s the same situation regardless of what party’s in power.
But after President Obama became president, the group did a 180. It changed its name to remove “confirmation” and dropped its demand for fair treatment of nominees. Its new mission became ensuring that only “highly qualified individuals” who share their vision of limited government and rule of law “comprise our state and federal courts.” The group has consistently opposed Obama’s judicial nominees. - Think Progress, 11/12/13
So yeah. The GOP is hoping these ads will make Pryor vote against Obama's nominees and try to defeat him:
http://www.nationaljournal.com/...
The ad also references, although not by name, the looming battle over three of Obama's nominees to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, saying Pryor is "helping Obama pack a key court with new liberal judges." Next week, the Senate is expected to vote whether to confirm Georgetown law professor Cornelia Pillard to one of the posts.
The GOP plans to take down Pryor, generally considered the Democrats' most vulnerable incumbent during next year's mid-term elections, by aggressively linking him to the president, who is deeply unpopular in deeply conservative Arkansas. Usually, that means mentioning Pryor's votes in favor of Obamacare or the stimulus package. Arkansas Rep. Tom Cotton, Pryor's expected Republican challenger, echoed the ad's argument in a statement Friday.
"Whether it's Senator Mark Pryor's deciding vote for Obamacare or his rubber-stamping of Obama's left-wing judicial nominees, one thing is clear: Senator Pryor always puts President Obama first," said Cotton spokesman David Ray. - The National Journal, 11/8/13
Not sure how effective this attack ad will be but Pryor's up with a new ad reminding voters that Tom Cotton (R. AR) wants to cut their Social Security and Medicare:
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/...
The television ad was released by the Pryor campaign on Wednesday. In it, two narrators argue that Cotton has repeatedly voted against the interests of senior citizens by voting to cut Social Security and Medicare while Pryor has worked to "make Social Security and Medicare stronger."
"Some politicians like Tom Cotton voted to cut Social Security," one narrator in the ad said. "And raise the the age of eligibility to 70."
The narrators go on to argue that Pryor has improved the entitlement programs by cutting "billions in waste" and helping to lower prescription costs.
According to Pryor campaign spokesman Erik Dorey, the ad, which began airing on Wednesday, is part of a "major contrast theme going forward." The Pryor campaign made a six-figure buy on the new ad, which will air throughout Arkansas. - TPM, 11/13/13
It's important Pryor wins re-election. He's co-sponsored Senator Tom Harkin's (D. IA) bill rejecting the chained CPI and any cuts to Social Security and Medicare as part of a "grand bargain". If you would like to donate or get involved with Pryor's re-election campaign, you can do so here:
http://pryorforsenate.com/