Kerrey attacked in Crossroads ad for ‘backroom deal’ with Reid

In a radio ad airing in Nebraska, former Sen. Bob Kerrey (D-Neb.) is attacked as a New York liberal embarrassing the Cornhusker State.

American Crossroads, a conservative outside group founded by Karl Rove, will spend almost $80,000 to air the ad over the next week. It's a sizable buy for radio in a state with inexpensive media markets.

Democrats recruited Kerrey to run for retiring Sen. Ben Nelson’s (D) seat, but he initially turned it down before changing his mind in February. He acknowledged he had struck a deal with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), although Reid later said no promises had been made.

The ad uses Kerrey’s negotiations with Reid to tie him to Nelson, who faced blowback after he held out his key vote for President Obama’s healthcare reform measure in 2009 until he was offered concessions that brought additional Medicaid funding to Nebraska.

“Hasn’t Nebraska been embarrassed enough? First Ben Nelson embarrassed us with his ‘Cornhusker Kickback,’ ” the ad says. “Now it’s Bob Kerrey embarrassing us.”

The ad also uses Republicans’ favorite attack line against Kerrey: that his Nebraska bona fides were tainted when, after leaving the Senate, he moved to New York to head the New School in Manhattan.

“Maybe that’s how you do it when you’ve lived in New York for the past decade like Bob Kerrey, but it’s not the Nebraska way,” says the narrator in the ad.

Republicans still have a solid shot to flip this seat in a conservative-leaning state. But with Kerrey in the race, Republicans and their allied groups will have to spend heavily there.

Kerrey was hit with his first attack ad just two days into his campaign. Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning, the GOP front-runner, aired a television ad that also hit Kerrey on his time in New York.

Watch the ad:

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