2012 Election
Republican Governors Association Hits Inslee with Attack Ad
The Republicans Governors Association, which has raised $4 million to support Republican gubernatorial candidate Rob McKenna, has released its first ad attacking Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jay Inslee.
Without naming the legislation, the ad hits Inslee for voting for "a massive tax increase" on small businesses. They are referring to the Affordable Care Act. Obviously, there are competing claims about the impact the ACA will have on small businesses.
It also hits him for voting for the $800 million stimulus package, though the ad simply calls it a "spending program that never delivered the promised jobs."
The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office released a report last year that said the stimulus package created between 500,000 and 3.3 million jobs.
"They obviously didn't do their research for this ad," Inslee spokeswoman Jaime Smith says. "These are two bills that Jay isn't shy about having supported." She says: "Obviously Jay voted for the Affordable Care Act. The status quo of skyrocketing health care costs was bankrupting small businesses and our country."
One noteworthy thing about the RGA ad—it lifts a shot from Inslee's own successful "bulldozer" ad.
How does the Inslee camp feel about being sampled? Smith was pretty blasé. "We're not too impressed with this ad," she said, adding that she hasn't bothered to look into the legality of grabbing a clip from Inslee's ad. She surmised that they just filmed it off the TV.
Here's Smith's formal response to the RGA spot:
The RGA head, Virginia's Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell, recently made waves by comparing McKenna to controversial Wisconsin Republican (and star) Gov. Scott Walker.
Without naming the legislation, the ad hits Inslee for voting for "a massive tax increase" on small businesses. They are referring to the Affordable Care Act. Obviously, there are competing claims about the impact the ACA will have on small businesses.
It also hits him for voting for the $800 million stimulus package, though the ad simply calls it a "spending program that never delivered the promised jobs."
The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office released a report last year that said the stimulus package created between 500,000 and 3.3 million jobs.
"They obviously didn't do their research for this ad," Inslee spokeswoman Jaime Smith says. "These are two bills that Jay isn't shy about having supported." She says: "Obviously Jay voted for the Affordable Care Act. The status quo of skyrocketing health care costs was bankrupting small businesses and our country."
One noteworthy thing about the RGA ad—it lifts a shot from Inslee's own successful "bulldozer" ad.
How does the Inslee camp feel about being sampled? Smith was pretty blasé. "We're not too impressed with this ad," she said, adding that she hasn't bothered to look into the legality of grabbing a clip from Inslee's ad. She surmised that they just filmed it off the TV.
Here's Smith's formal response to the RGA spot:
It didn’t take long for the national Republicans propping up Rob McKenna to launch unsubstantiated attacks against Jay Inslee. The Republican Governors Association is distorting Jay’s record of fighting for small businesses and middle-class families. Jay Inslee stood with President Obama to stop the tide of job losses and provide tax relief to small businesses, while Rob McKenna stands with Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan who want tax breaks for the super-rich.
The RGA head, Virginia's Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell, recently made waves by comparing McKenna to controversial Wisconsin Republican (and star) Gov. Scott Walker.
