THE UR VS THE DEMOCRATS:

DNC Targets Democratic Senators on Health Care (Rick Klein, July 15, 2009, ABC News)

The Democratic National Committee is launching a new television advertisement today to press Congress to support President Obama’s health care plan -- and is targeting moderate Democrats to come on board. [...]

The ad -- placed by the DNC’s Organizing for America arm, the offshoot of the Obama campaign’s lists of supporters -- uses the voices and images of five people who shared their stories with the DNC in the hopes of pressuring Congress to act.

More interesting than the message is who it’s being aimed at. One version of the ad will be placed in Washington, DC, and on news and information Websites -- a typical strategy to reach opinion leaders.

A slightly different version -- ending with a request for viewers to “call your senators” -- will air in Florida, Nebraska, Indiana, Louisiana, North Dakota, Arkansas, Maine, and Ohio, according to a Democratic Party official.

With the exception of Maine and Ohio, each of those states is home to at least one moderate Democratic senator whose vote on health care is in question. Maine is represented by two moderate Republicans who top the list of potential GOP votes on health care reform; Ohio has one such Republican senator, in addition to a liberal Democrat.

The national party is running ads against its own reps?

Posted by Orrin Judd at July 15, 2009 6:38 AM