GOP Ad Raises 'The Stakes'
House Republicans and the Republican National Committee today raised the ante in their pre-election campaign to convince voters that a Democratic Congress would harm the economy and the war on terrorism.
The effort began this week and is aimed at both sparking a high GOP voter turnout and raising concerns among other voters about where a Democratic Congress would take the country. The RNC took the lead today, putting on its website a dark and controversial ad titled simply "The Stakes." It shows a series of terrorists like Osama bin Laden threatening the United States, capped with a quote from Ayman al-Zawahiri pledging that the next attack will be worse than 9/11. The ad ends, "These are the stakes. Vote November 7th." The online ad has been so well received, says the RNC, that the party is considering airing it on TV.
A similar theme today comes out of Speaker Dennis Hastert's office, which charges that a Democratic Congress will spoil the economy by boosting gas prices. In focus: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's votes to raise the gas tax. Hastert's office cites five votes and charges that she'll do it again. The GOP also plans to issue a labor report suggesting that Democratic tax policies will cost jobs.
Pelosi's press secretary, Jennifer Crider, pushed the attack on her boss aside, telling U.S. News, "The Republicans just don't get it–only President Bush and his rubber-stamp Republican Congress would celebrate gas prices that are more than 50 percent higher today than when he took office. Democrats are committed to stopping the billions of dollars in tax giveaways to the Republicans' Big Oil cronies and investing it in alternative energy to lower gas and energy prices for everyone."
"We will keep on explaining the stakes of this election every day," says a House GOP leadership aide.
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