Thursday, July 15, 2010

Rep. Brad Ellsworth's Bad Week

From the Indiana Republican Party:

When Congressman Brad Ellsworth started running his first TV ad last week, he probably thought campaigning on only part of his record was a good strategy. Boy was he wrong. This week has turned out to be the most disappointing one Ellsworth has faced since getting into the Senate race.


Over the weekend media outlet after media outlet panned Ellsworth's ad as misleading for "practicing revisionist history " when he bashed Washington even though he serves in Washington. While he constantly tries to run from his record in Congress, it's apparent the media won't let him get away with it.

On Monday an independent poll released by Rasmussen showed Dan Coats' lead over Rep. Ellsworth growing to 21% . The poll, which shows Coats with a commanding 51-30, lead was conducted at the time Ellsworth started running his TV ad.

On Tuesday the Evansville Courier & Press caught Ellsworth hypocritically traveling to Canada for a campaign fundraiser hosted by a special interest group that represents trial lawyers--this just days after his new ad decries the influence of those same special interests.

On Wednesday Ellsworth's past votes in Congress came back to haunt him as voter anger was reignited over the stimulus and healthcare. First, a story broke in the national media that showed millions of dollars in stimulus money has been wasted on buying road signs to promote the stimulus bill that Rep. Ellsworth voted for . Later that day it was learned the Obama administration signed off on Pennsylvania's high risk healthcare pool which included taxpayer-funded coverage for abortions-- despite promises from Ellsworth that he voted for the healthcare bill because it wouldn't allow taxpayer money to be spent on abortions.

On Thursday the National Journal ran a story that points out Indiana voters have little idea who Ellsworth is, and he has a long way to go to show he is a credible candidate in this race. Additionally, campaigns around the country filed quarterly campaign finance reports. Dan Coats reported raising over $1.5 million over the past three months, while Ellsworth only raised $600,000.

One thing in the last week has become increasingly clear: If Rep. Ellsworth is going to run from his record and offer empty, disingenuous rhetoric, the weeks ahead will only be getting tougher. It's going to take Rep. Ellsworth a lot more than money and misleading TV ads to explain to Hoosiers why they can trust him after he's rubber-stamped the Pelosi-Obama liberal agenda by casting so many anti-Indiana votes.

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