Blue America's Beat Boehner billboard in Ohio has gotten a ton of local press. And so far, the local citizens seem to find it amusing as well. So, we've upped the ante and have decided to take our message to TV:
After months of watching Republicans hammer President Obama for hitting the links on a weekly basis, Democrats are turning the tables. In an ad launched Monday morning, a duo of progressive groups go after House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) for a golf addiction rivaled by few others...
The White House, when pressed on Obama's frequency on the links, has argued that it's a productive way for him to find some relief from the wear and tear of the job. Boehner isn't known as a particularly hard worker. And when asked about the more indulgent expenditures he has made through his political action committee, the response has traditionally been that it's for the benefit of positioning the party for 2010. Golf, while a hobby, is also way to entertain donors and raise money.
Coussoule's hope is that voters find the contrast between the lavish fundraising and the policy positions (raising the retirement age and opposing unemployment insurance) too objectionable -- though considering the conservative makeup of the Ohio district, he has an uphill task.
The ad is not some cheeky effort for additional media recognition. It will be airing in Butler County on CNN, MSNBC, Fox (though not the Glenn Beck program) and Comedy Central and will be bolstered by a fundraising drive to keep it on air.
Howie says:
Yesterday's appearance by John Boehner on Meet The Press was tantamount to an unpaid advertisement for Justin Coussoule's campaign for the western Ohio congressional seat that Boehner has been squatting in since 1990 when Buz Lukens, his Republican predecessor, was caught buying the sexual favors of a sixteen year old girl. Apparently Boehner was so traumatized by the Lukens incident that he joined the one remaining golf club in the DC area that not only doesn't admit women-- but doesn't even permit them on the premises! Burning Tree has been Boehner's home away from home when he's not on Meet The Press advocating raiding the Social Security Trust Fund to finance more tax breaks for multi-millionaires.
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Thanks to our friends at People For the American Way and the AFL-CIO the BeatBoehner billboard contest raised more than we needed for the billboard we planned. We decided to put the extra money into more billboards and into the TV ad buy that repudiates Boehner's lies about the content of our campaign. Please watch the ad again and if you'd like to see it up on broadcast TV... well, let's put it like this: the DCCC is too busy with von Furstenberg designer totes and trying to save the asses of worthless Blue Dogs like Frank Kratovil, Bobby Bright and Travis Childers to help true blue progressives like Coussoule or to even make an effort to defeat their own worst enemies, like Boehner. They won't help. Can you? If you can, everything donated on this ActBlue page goes into defeating John Boehner. Not one cent for Blue Dogs and not one cent for consultants.
Check out the tan on Boehner from yesterday's MTP. And from the stats in our ad, he got it honestly --- on the links.
If you'd like to see our ad played in Boehner's district, where his neighbors and friends can have a good laugh (or a good cry) in these tough times ---and realize they have a great alternative --- you can contribute here.
