Michelle Nunn can't take 'no' for an answer
Vulnerable red state Democratic Senate candidates can't run away from President Obama fast enough. And as the clock winds down to election day, they're getting desperate to throw off the dead weight that Obama has become as their opponents run ad after ad featuring their smiling faces standing next to the president.
Editor Lifson notes that their effort is in vain. The president has wrapped his arms around Democratic candidates, holding tight even as the candidates try to squirm away.
In Georgia, Democratic candidate Michelle Nunn is trying a different tack. Her GOP opponent, David Perdue, has been running an ad featuring the president and Ms. Nunn doing the grip and grin. To counter that ad, Nunn is running a spot with her standing next to former President George H.W. Bush, claiming that the pic with Obama was taken at an event honoring the former president.
It's the second ad she's tried this gambit. After the first one, Bush expressed his displeasure and asked her to cease and desist in using his image in her campaign.
Ignoring the wishes of the former president, Nunn released another ad featuring the same picture.
A new ad from Democrat Michelle Nunn in the U.S. Senate race aims to puncture the notion that she is a lackey of President Barack Obama, pointing out that the oft-displayed picture of her with the president in attack ads came from an event honoring President George H.W. Bush.
“Throughout my career, I’ve been able to work with Republicans and Democrats,” Nunn says as images of her with the past four presidents flash across the screen.
But Bush has endorsed Republican David Perdue in the race and had expressed displeasure at the same image being used in a Nunn ad earlier this year. Bush spokesman Jim McGrath was not pleased at the new spot, and sent this via email:
“Michelle and her team have been clearly, repeatedly and consistently told that President Bush did not want them to use his photo as part of this campaign. Apparently, the Nunn team feels they can repeatedly disregard the former president’s wishes, which is very disappointing because it’s so disrespectful.”
Having endorsed Perdue, might the former president cut an ad takling her to task for her disrespectful behavior? It's pretty late in the day, but don't count Bush out. You can say what you want about the former president, but he has always been a loyal party man. I'm sure it sticks in his craw that an upstart Democrat has hijacked his image to trash another Republican.
The polls say the race is virtually tied so an ad liket his can make a difference in a close race. It's apparent that Nunn can't take "no" for an answer so it's likely the ad will continue to run.