A TV ad from a new super PAC targets Democratic congressman and U.S. Senate candidate Gary Peters of Michigan. The 30-second ad’s voiceover says that “for the last six years, we’ve had a president and a Senate who’s divided us and fumbled foreign policy, leading from behind.” The ad shows images of the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, former IRS official Lois Lerner, and Islamist militants waving ISIS flags in the Middle East.
“This November,” the ad continues, “we can send Gary Peters to Washington, and nothing will change. Or, we can elect Terri Lynn Land and start to fix what’s gone so terribly wrong.” The $300,000 buy will air the ad in Michigan’s smaller markets of Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids, Battle Creek, and the Upper Peninsula, targeting conservative leaning voters in those areas.
Watch the video below:
The ad has been produced on behalf of B-PAC, a brand new 527 super PAC that filed with the Federal Election Commission on September 4. A spokesman for the group says the PAC will be playing in other “key Senate races” by asking voters if they feel safer than they did six years ago.
That’s the theme of B-PAC’s first ad, which started running last week in Michigan. Peters will “vote with the Democrats and their magical thinking on everything from health care to the economy to national security,” says the voiceover. Watch that ad below:
What’s a conservative super PAC doing in the Michigan Senate race? Unlike some of the other races in blue-leaning states like Iowa and Colorado, Michigan has appeared to be a reach state for Republicans. Despite the open seat (Democrat Carl Levin is retiring), Republican nominee Terri Lynn Land hasn’t quite caught fire against Peters. The state hardly ever elects Republicans to the Senate—since 1972, just one Republican, Spencer Abraham, has won a Senate race in Michigan.
But while Peters has led in every poll since May, Land has only trailed by single digits in the most recent polling. If 2014 is to be a wave year for the GOP, Republican candidates in states like Michigan will need enthusiasm among the conservative base to boost enough turnout. Ads like these appear designed to do just that.
