(This post was updated at 6:51 AM on 4/30/10)
A few quick notes from F2F tonight:
Harry Reid campaign boss Brandon Hall explained their new campaign ads: three stories that show how health care reform helps “hundreds of thousands of Nevadans.”
When challenged on the bill’s unpopularity in Nevada, Hall named individual pieces of the bill that are actually well-liked and cited a Research 2000 poll that shows disapproval at less than the Rasmussen numbers.
List referred to the three ads as “trying to put a mask on this pig.” (I thought the usual saying included lipstick? But maybe more cover-up is needed than a few swipes to the snout of Revlon Fire Engine Red.)
Ralston challenged List (and, by association, the Republican establishment) on the common characterization of health care reform as a “government takeover” and observed that the Democrats lost the health care “messaging war” in part because the GOP insisted on constantly enlisting it even though it isn’t true.
List said “it is true” and defended the label on the basis that the bill forces people to purchase insurance via congressional mandates and takes away the choice of the individual.
“Congress is part of government, last time I checked,” said List.
As for whether Reid’s pro-health care form ads are a good idea, Hall says he thinks so. And says it puts the Republicans at a disadvantage to have to run on a platform of repeal against specific measures that are popular (like help with prescription drugs (I utterly refuse to say “closing the doughnut hole”) and policy-drop loopholes).
List agreed it will be tough to repeal the bill while bemoaning the $500M that will be pulled from Medicare and the run-up of our national debt.
As for the elephant, er, giant chicken in the room, List had the following things to say about Sue Lowden (following a quote from The Hill saying she has been a victim of national ridicule to the point that her rivals may have a chance to seize the nomination) and whether or not he (List) has heard from concerned Republicans inside the beltway:
“I have had such calls.”
“The fact is that people have always been able to negotiate in this country; it is part of our free enterprise system. That’s what she was talking about.”
“The reality is it is much ado about very little.”
“When you compare this to some of the statements, the outrageous statements, like “the war is lost,” that are substantive and important…”
“The whole thing is a distraction from the real campaign issues.”
“It’s being played up.”
“People are having fun with it.”
“It’s gonna blow over.”
My three cents:
It’s not gonna blow over. They are going to pound on this and ridicule Lowden from now ’til Kingdom Come. And it’s too late for her to “walk it back” (which, as Brandon Hall helpfully pointed out, she had numerous chances to do) so she just has to sit there and take it like a man.
The anticipated pounding was/is confirmed by this post-show Flash from Ralston:
Sources confirm that the Patriot Majority, one of the most active independent advocacy groups in the nation, begins a substantial, statewide buy Friday against GOP U.S. Senate frontrunner Sue Lowden.
Anyone want to guess the line of attack? Cluck three times if you think you know.
Bartergate is about to get a lot of play on the airwaves. My guess of the approach: Ridicule
Just a guess. No wonder national and local GOP folks are so worried.
Remember I told you about this group, fronted by a former Reid spokesman: http://www.patriotmajority.us/home
They have a lot of money and my guess is this is not a dipping-our-toes-in-the-water campaign but a cannonball that will cause a serious splash in the race. If the Democrats can try to defeat (or at least rough up) Brian Sandoval in the gubernatorial primary, I suppose they can try to do the same to Lowden in the Senate race.
Hold on to your butt feathers, Dear Readers…
In his closing segment, Ralston revisited the issue of the health care messaging war.
“How many times have you heard the obnoxious phrase — I mentioned this earlier — “government takeover”? So Reid knows he has to pierce the misinformation and try to sell the law,” said Ralston.
“Many of the individual parts of the legislation are popular… By using regular folks to sell these aspects, Reid hopes he can turn some heads. No, the ads are not likely to move his poll numbers right away, but I doubt he expects they will. It may, however, energize the Democratic base he badly needs to get out in November to have any chance of survival.”
