Club for Growth launches ad against Dick Lugar
The Club for Growth is up with its first television ad against Indiana Republican Sen. Richard Lugar in what appears to be an increasingly perilous primary campaign for the longtime incumbent.
The fiscally conservative Club, whose political action committee endorsed state Treasurer Richard Mourdock back in February, is launching what is technically an issue ad that hits Lugar for his three-plus decades in Congress, as well as his votes on tax issues, the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) bailout and the “Bridge to Nowhere” earmark.
“Call Dick Lugar,” the ad closes. “Tell him: No more tax hikes.”
The Club for Growth, which has targeted a handful of Republican incumbents over the years in primaries, is clearly making Lugar a focal point of its 2012 campaign. According to an ad buyer, the group reserved half a million dollars worth of ad time last week. Other reports say the group is planning to spend even more than that.
The Club did not immediately respond to questions about how much money it was spending on the ad.
As we noted Friday, Lugar has had a bad couple weeks, including a local election board declaring him ineligible to vote in his home county (because, it rules, he doesn’t actually live there) and, late last week, the revelation that he improperly billed taxpayers for hotel stays in Indianapolis during recess.
Recent polling has shown a tight race between Lugar and Mourdock.
Meanwhile, Lugar is up with his own ad, in which he plays up his opposition to President Obama’s health care bill.
Tags
- Spam
- Obscene
- Duplicate
Blog Contributors
Chris Cillizza
Chris Cillizza is founder and editor of The Fix, a leading blog on state and national politics. He is the author of The Gospel According to the Fix: An Insider’s Guide to a Less than Holy World of Politics and an MSNBC contributor and political analyst. He also regularly appears on NBC and NPR’s The Diane Rehm Show. He joined The Post in 2005 and was named one of the top 50 journalists by Washingtonian in 2009.
Juliet Eilperin
Juliet Eilperin covers the White House for the Washington Post. She served as the Post's House of Representatives reporter from 1998-2004, covering the impeachment of Bill Clinton, lobbying, legislation, and five national congressional campaigns. Since 2004 she has been one of the country’s leading reporters covering the environment, reporting on science, policy and politics in areas including climate change, oceans, and air quality. She is the author of two books, "Fight Club Politics: How Partisanship is Poisoning the House of Representatives," and "Demon Fish: Travels Through the Hidden World of Sharks." Follow her on Twitter.
Ed O’Keefe
Ed O’Keefe covers Congress and politics for the Washington Post. He previously covered the 2008 and 2012 campaigns and reported on federal agencies and federal employees as author of The Federal Eye blog. Follow Ed on Twitter.
Aaron Blake
Aaron Blake covers national politics at the Washington Post, where he writes regularly for “The Fix,” the Post’s top political blog. A Minnesota native and summa cum laude graduate of the University of Minnesota, Aaron has also written about politics for the Minneapolis Star-Tribune and The Hill newspaper. Aaron and his wife, Danielle, live in Annandale, Va. Follow him on Twitter.
Sean Sullivan
Sean Sullivan covers national politics for “The Fix.” Prior to joining the Washington Post in the summer of 2012, Sean was the editor of Hotline On Call, National Journal Hotline’s politics blog. He has also worked for NHK Japan Public Broadcasting and ABC News. Sean is a graduate of Hamilton College, where he received a degree in Philosophy. He lives in Washington, D.C. Follow Sean on Twitter.
Scott Clement
Scott Clement is a survey research analyst for Capital Insight, the independent polling group of Washington Post Media. Scott specializes in public opinion about politics, election campaigns and public policy. He helps design and analyze all Washington Post polls, including the Washington Post-ABC News poll. Follow Scott on Twitter.
Rachel Weiner
Rachel Weiner covers national politics for Post Politics and The Fix. She came to the Washington Post in 2010 as a political web editor and anchored the Post's 2012 election blog. She was previously a web editor at The Huffington Post. Follow her on Twitter.
Latest Tweets
@GlennThrush did u take your contacts out?
Another fan of pleading the Fifth: Dave Chapelle -- http://t.co/4G3YCo3ICF
As @AaronBlakeWP notes, Senate hearings generally include fewer theatrics compared to House hearings: http://t.co/MFIOAuVVnm
Loading...
Comments