Democrats are buoyed by polls showing that generically, and in a growing number of cases, actually via special elections, a potential blue wave is building for the 2018 mid-term elections.
Here in PA, voters in Congressional District 18, south of Pittsburgh, are gearing up for a special March 13th election, due to the resignation of GOP incumbent Tim Murphy following revelations of marital misconduct. (For detailed background on the district and the election, including initial advertising by Lamb and his opponent Rick Saccone, see my diary of yesterday.)
Lamb’s initial ads are a mix of introductory (his background and his goals) and an attack on Saccone as tied to corporate interests.
But now he is out with a new message, and it is a beauty. The subject, one that should be a core issue for every Democratic candidate for House and Senate is Entitlements and in particular, Social Security.
House Speaker Paul Ryan, in his europhoria following passage of the GOP’s rapacious tax bill, said his new focus is “entitlement programs.”
“We're going to have to get back next year at entitlement reform, which is how you tackle the debt and the deficit,” Ryan said on a talk radio show. One of his top spending appropriators echoed the sentiment.
“If someone wants to get serious about debt, come talk to me about entitlements," Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) told CNBC. "Tax cuts produce growth; entitlement spending doesn't.”
But entitlement reform, as Republicans have come to call slashing these programs, comes at a cost. Not every Republican is on board with touching nationally popular programs during an election year that is already shaping up to be favorable to Democrats. (snip)
By every official analysis, the tax bill is expected to add at least $1 trillion to the national debt. Republicans have ignored the number, with the hope that their tax bill will lead to unprecedented economic growth. But now they’re eying ways to trim government spending, targeting everything from food stamps and Medicaid to Social Security and Medicare.
In fact, the GOP is already being confronted with the dark side of their tax bill….deficits...a subject they blithely discarded in the rush to pass the legislation, and a subject they had long championed until they didn’t. In fact, the national debt is now, as a result of the new tax bill, rising even faster than projected ($1.5 Trillion) and it is accelerating the timetable forcing Congress to raise the debt limit.
Social Security has always been called the 3rd rail of politics….touch it at your peril. The Bush administration made moves in that direction and had to back off when public opposition skyrocketed.
Now “entitlements” are again on the GOP agenda using the ploy….”We cut taxes for you and that means we have less money to spend (except on defense and a giant parade for our ‘Dear Leader,” )and we are going to have to cut domestic spending….sorry, but you will have to push your retirement back to age 70 and accept less in your monthly payment.
And here is where Lamb NAILS it with this ad called “Entitlements”:
As summarized by the Washington Post:
In a new television ad, Mr. Lamb says that nobody should be fooled when House Speaker Paul Ryan speaks about “entitlement reform,” warning the Wisconsin Republican is trying to hide the party’s push to cut Social Security and Medicare.
“Paul Ryan will use the term entitlement reform to talk about Social Security and Medicare as if it is undeserved or it is some form of welfare, but it is not any of those things,” Mr. Lamb says in the ad. “People paid for it, they worked hard for it, and they expect us to keep our promises to them.”
The ad highlights news headlines that say Mr. Ryan wants to reduce spending on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security and say Republicans are “coming after Medicare.”
Mr. Lamb said people rely on the money from these social safety net programs to help care for family members.
As noted in yesterday’s diary, a win in this normally red district is still a long shot with Charlie Cook calling it leans Republican, but Lamb is getting lots of small donations and with ads like this, has a real shot at scoring another early upset that will further shake up the GOP and force them to spend more and more to defend seats they had thought were safe.
Dems….Lamb can use your small dollar support.
Click here to make your own contribution via ActBlue
And if you can, pitch in to help the campaign directly
https://conorlamb.com
Just over a month to go. Pitch in with small donations vs. the big bucks secret PAC funding for Saccone. Pitch in to get out the vote and talk up Lamb as a viable candidate.
And most of all, make Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell and Donnie weep on March 18th
What’s your view of the Lamb message? Is it effective and can it work for Democrats nationwide?
