Nurses Union Plans Ad Against Angle

Nurses Union Plans Ad Against Angle
By IAN LOVETT
Copyright by The New York Times
Published: October 3, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/04/us/politics/04angle.html?th&emc=th


The largest union of registered nurses in the country will begin a $200,000 advertising campaign Monday aimed at defeating Sharron Angle, the Republican challenger to Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, with union leaders describing this race as their top priority in the midterm elections.

The $200,000 is the largest ever expenditure on a political race by the union, National Nurses United, officials said. The campaign will include TV commercials that portray Ms. Angle as bumbling and extremist, as well as Internet banner advertisements and direct mail.

The four 15-second ads play on Ms. Angle’s name, declaring her the “Wrong Angle” for Nevada.

One ad juxtaposes the image of a house sliding off a cliff with video of Ms. Angle speaking. The ad calls the former a “bad angle” and the latter a “worse Angle.”

“As your U.S. senator, I’m not in the business of creating jobs,” Ms. Angle is heard saying in the ad. Other commercials use Ms. Angle’s comments about privatizing Medicare and Social Security, as well as getting rid of the Department of Education.

The short ads will run at the beginnings and endings of programs for the next two weeks, in an effort to catch viewers before they have time to change channels.

The ad campaign is the latest in a string of attack ads in this high-profile, neck-and-neck race that pits the highest-ranking Senate Democrat against a candidate backed by Tea Party advocates. Mr. Reid’s ads repeatedly call Ms. Angle “just too extreme,” while one of Ms. Angle’s ads calls Mr. Reid, who opposes the controversial Arizona immigration law, “the best friend illegals ever had.”

Third-party groups have also spent heavily on advertising for the race, including American Crossroads, a group with ties to Karl Rove, which has hammered Mr. Reid on the airwaves.

National Nurses United, which was formed last December when unions from several states joined forces, has supported Democratic candidates in other races across the country, including by demonstrating against Meg Whitman, the Republican candidate for governor in California. But Michael Lighty, director of public policy for the union, called the Nevada Senate race “the most important race nationally.”

“If a candidate like Sharron Angle, with extreme positions on Medicare and Social Security, is able to beat the Senate majority leader, that is a bad sign for public health and pensions,” Mr. Lighty said.

Mr. Lighty added that the union was also planning a demonstration against Ms. Angle on Thursday, and events involving seniors.

In response to the ads, Jarrod Agen, a spokesman for the Angle campaign, said, “Sharron believes that we must keep our promise to our seniors and prevent Harry Reid from raiding the Social Security funds as he’s done before.”

According to the Campaign Media Analysis Group, third parties have spent more on ads supporting Mr. Reid than on any other Democratic candidate for national office. It is one of the few races in which third-party spending on advertisements has favored Democrats.