WASHINGTON – The attack ads are already starting against House Republicans who approved the controversial healthcare overhaul last week.
A liberal group called Save My Care announced that it was spending $500,000 on ads targeting 24 GOP members of Congress who voted to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, including Reps. Erik Paulsen and Jason Lewis of Minnesota.
The ads say the legislation makes coverage unaffordable to people with preexisting conditions and that it's opposed by the American Medical Association, AARP and the American Cancer Society.
Paulsen, Lewis and other Republican backers have described the measure as improving healthcare affordability and access. But Democrats have seized on the healthcare vote to try to flip competitive Republican Congressional districts and take back control of the House, politicizing the issue a year and a half before the 2018 election.
Also Monday, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) announced a five-figure ad buy on YouTube and Google over the next two weeks aimed at Paulsen, Lewis and eight other "politically vulnerable" House Republicans who supported the repeal.
"Our early investments reflect the huge opportunity for Democrats to maximize gains on an expanding midterm battlefield," said DCCC spokeswoman Rachel Irwin in a statement.
