Outside group launches attack ad on Thom Tillis
A so-called “dark money” group is coming to Democrat Kay Hagan’s aid in North Carolina, unleashing a new TV ad Wednesday that attacks Republican frontrunner Thom Tillis. (See ad below.)
Patriot Majority USA, a nonprofit that doesn’t disclose its donors, is putting $500,000 toward running the ad for the next eight days, a spokesman said.
The 30-second spot doesn’t mention Hagan but it appears to be a response to ads from Americans for Prosperity attacking the first-term senator for supporting the federal health care law. AFP – which is backed by the Koch brothers, Charles and David – has spent more than $6.5 million, on it’s effort with some estimates putting the price tag at $8 million-plus.
In the “Bad Company” ad, Patriot Majority fights back on the same turf: the health care law. It attacks Tillis for opposing the Affordable Care Act, saying his stance means he “sides with health insurance companies.” The ad also claims Tillis “supports a plan that would end Medicare as we know it” for backing U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan’s proposed budget. A version of the claim was dubbed by fact-checker PolitiFact as the 2011 “lie of the year.”
The kicker – “Thom Tillis, he’s with special interests, hurting North Carolina families” – reiterates a theme Democrats are trying to use against Tillis. It also is the theme GOP rival Greg Brannon is using against the House speaker, who also faces Charlotte pastor Mark Harris and two other lesser-known candidates in the primary race.
Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/02/12/3614927/outside-group-launches-attack.html#storylink=cpy
