DSCC hits Flake on women's, veterans' issues; McMahon on Social Security

By Alexandra Jaffe - 10/23/12 09:08 AM ET

Democrats are hammering Senate candidates Rep. Jeff Flake (R) in Arizona and Linda McMahon (R) in Connecticut with two new ads out on Wednesday, highlighting some of the issues that have become central to both campaigns.

Against Flake, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is launching an ad that appeals to three voting blocs: veterans, women and seniors.

The ad asks, "What would Jeff Flake cost you?" and charges that he could cost veterans their homes, that he opposed requiring insurance companies to cover minimum hospital stays for breast cancer and that his support for Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-Wis.) budget would cost seniors thousands more each year.

Most of the back-and-forth in the Arizona Senate race has focused on these three voting blocs — particularly women and veterans — with Democratic opponent Richard Carmona attempting to hammer Flake for supporting policies he says are harmful to both.

The Arizona race remains a toss-up, with Carmona posting a margin-of-error lead in the most recent two polls but the state leaning toward Mitt Romney.

In Connecticut, the DSCC targets McMahon's position on Medicare — an increase of $5,000 in fees for seniors, according to the ad — and Social Security — to sunset the program, the ad says. It also notes that McMahon has spent $70 million of her own funds on her two Senate bids, making her one of the highest self-funders ever to run for the Senate.

The charge that McMahon would "sunset" Social Security is a favorite of Democrats, and refers to a comment she made at a Tea Party forum about programs like Social Security needing to be reviewed every 10 to 15 years.

Though McMahon has pushed back on the attack, accusing Democrats of taking her words out of context, it seems to be one Democrats think will stick, as they've continued to drive it home.

The Connecticut Senate race is a toss-up, but most recent polls have slightly favored Democratic Rep. Chris Murphy. McMahon, however, has managed to keep his lead to single digits and even overcome him in some polls, and she's running a much stronger campaign than she did in 2010.