April 30, 2010, 11:42 am
U.S. Chamber Backs Senate Democrat with Campaign Ad
By ROBB MANDELBAUM
The conventional wisdom is that Senator Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, up for reelection this fall, is one of several Democrats in danger of losing her seat. But right now, a Republican opponent is the least of her worries; Ms. Lincoln, one of the most conservative members of her caucus, is facing a tough primary challenge from the left, in the person of Lt. Governor Bill Halter. And on Tuesday, Salon’s Mike Madden reported that she’s receiving help from an unexpected quarter: the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, in the name of “small businesses.”
The Chamber’s 30-second spot declares that “for years, small businesses have counted on Senator Blanche Lincoln” — for tax cuts, incentives for homegrown manufacturing and R&D, and for rewriting “unfair” tax laws. The message is unexpected, given that the Chamber has pledged to spend, according to the Washington Post, $50 million to “target vulnerable Democrats in up to two dozen states with ads, get-out-the-vote operations and other grass-roots efforts.” But a Chamber spokesman, J.P. Fielder, pointed out that the organization endorsed Ms. Lincoln in 2004, when she last ran for reelection. He described the current ad as “a significant buy” that “will run for an extended period.”
Yet support from the conservative business association may be unwelcome at this stage of the primary campaign. Reports from Arkansas indicate that Mr. Halter is running a very competitive race against Ms. Lincoln, so much so that in recent days the centrist senator has been noticed tacking leftward. (For instance, when Politico recently gave Ms. Lincoln the opportunity to portray herself as more moderate than Mr. Halter, she declined to take it.)
Should Ms. Lincoln prevail in the primary, it will be interesting to see if the Chamber continues to back her against a Republican opponent. She has taken a sympathetic stance on many issues important to the Chamber, including opposition to cap-and-trade policy to combat global warming, the Employee Free Choice Act and the reconciliation bill that completed the health overhaul. But she backed the original Senate bill on which the final compromise was largely based.
More:
http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/30/u-s-chamber-backs-senate-democrat-with-campaign-ad/
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