Dems seek to intensify efforts against Boehner

Democrats ramped up their efforts against House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), releasing a new video on Thursday and promising to intensify their efforts to target the GOP leader.

Democrats sought to highlight alleged relationships between Boehner and lobbyists, attacks Republicans dismissed as another tired dig at the top House Republican.

In a bid to undercut the Ohio Republican's rhetoric about congressional reform, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) released a new TV ad accusing Boehner of doing the bidding of the tobacco industry and lobbyists.

“Another partisan attack won’t change the facts: The American people are asking, ‘Where are the jobs?’ and Washington Democrats simply can’t run away from their job-killing record," said Boehner spokesman Michael Steel.

Democrats released the ad as part of a campaign to double down on their effort to elevate the would-be House Speaker in the election.

A Democratic strategist said that the party would begin on Thursday to "starkly and specifically define John Boehner as the symbol" of the GOP. The effort comes as the Republican leader is set to give a speech on congressional reform before the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank.

The effort will dig into Boehner's time as a House leader in the 1990s and as chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee.

"It'll be full-throated but not with the intention of hurting John Boehner politically, but demonstrating what the public will get out of Washington if they put Republicans in charge," the Democratic strategist said.

Republicans ridiculed the attack.

"Look, this is the third or fourth time that Democrats have launched an attack against Boehner — including having the president of the United States fly halfway across the country to give a speech ‘rebutting’ a speech the House minority leader had given two weeks earlier," said a senior GOP aide. "It’s weird, it’s ineffective, and it’s getting pretty pathetic.”