National Democrats are sending in the reinforcements for members of Congress who supported their agenda but who face tough reelection battles in 2010.
Organizing for America (OFA), the field arm for the Democratic National Committee, will air a series of radio ads promoting the decisions of vulnerable members of Congress who endorsed healthcare reform legislation and the stimulus package.
Some House Democrats supportive of President Obama's agenda, especially those who hail from swing districts, have faced hostile crowds at town hall meetings since August recess began.
"Thanks to the support of these members and others like them - we will reform the health insurance system in this country and make other critical policy changes to get our economy back on track," OFA director Mitch Stewart said in the release.
In a release issued on Tuesday, the DNC announced it will place health insurance reform ads in the districts of 19 House Democrats:
Rep. Steve Driehaus (Ohio)
Rep. Kathy Dahlkemper (Pa.)
Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (Ariz.)
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (Ariz.)
Rep. Jerry McNerney (Calif.)
Rep. Ed Perlmutter (Colo.)
Rep. Suzanne Kosmas (Fla.)
Rep. Alan Grayson (Fla.)
Rep. Tim Walz (Minn.)
Rep. Martin Heinrich (N.M.)
Rep. Dina Titus (Nev.)
Rep. Dan Maffei (N.Y.)
Rep. Eric Massa (N.Y.)
Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy (Ohio)
Rep. John Boccieri (Ohio)
Rep. Zack Space (Ohio)
Rep. Charlie Wilson (Ohio)
Rep. Glenn Nye (Va.)
Rep. Steve Kagen (Wisc.)
Of the 19 members, 15 appeared on the National Republican Congressional Committee's (NRCC) list of 70 targeted districts in the 2010 House elections. The only exceptions are Giffords, Perlmutter, Walz, and Wilson.
The featured ads are entitled "Standing Up" and tout the congressmen and women's support for President Obama's healthcare agenda and their vote allowing the renewal of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).
OFA also cut a series of ads called "To the Rescue" which will run in the districts of four congressmen who backed the stimulus package: Reps. Allen Boyd (Fla.), Travis Childers (Miss.), Ben Chandler (Ky.), and Earl Pomeroy. All but Boyd were included on the NRCC target list.
The White House on Tuesday took to Twitter to issue a warning regarding "disinformation" promoted by web videos, websites, and chain e-mails that rail against healthcare reform.
Their message: "Don't believe everything you see."
The tweet links to a blog post written by White House new media director Macon Phillips that says, "opponents of health insurance reform may find the truth a little inconvenient, but as our second president famously said, 'facts are stubborn things.'"
In the video featured on the post, Director of Communications for the White House Office of Health Reform Linda Douglass uses a link featured on the Drudge Report entitled "Uncovered Video: Obama Explains How is Health Care Plan Will 'Eliminate' Private Insurance."
Yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) slammed GOP "scare tactics" on healthcare reform.
As the August recess begins, both sides are ramping up the rhetoric on healthcare reform in an effort to win the argument heading back to Washington.
Remarks made Sunday by two of President Obama's top economic advisers saying that the middle class may face a tax increase were no gaffe said a Republican member of Congress.
"That notion that there may be a tax increase coming was planted," Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Tex.) told Fox News on Monday.
Yesterday, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and National Economic Council Director Larry Summers both left the door open for tax increases on middle class families in order to raise funds to close the federal deficit and pay for healthcare reform.
"Nothing happens in Washington by accident...that's the one thing I have learned over the short time that I have been there" the fourth-term congressman added.
Burgess is a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which narrowly passed its version of healthcare reform legislation just before recess commenced on Friday.
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) warned other members of Congress against antagonistic audience members at healthcare town hall events who may be funded by industry interest groups.
"I hope my colleagues won't fall for a sucker punch like this," Durbin told the liberal blog ThinkProgress.
"These health insurance companies and people like them are trying to load these town meetings for visual impact on television," he added.
Liberal news sources have recently featured items about conservative and interest groups efforts to pack lawmakers' town hall meetings with brash, vocal participants.
Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius were faced with a hostile crowd at a town hall meeting in Philadelphia on Sunday.
Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) on Friday said that it "makes little differenc" when the chamber decides to vote on healthcare legislation.
Grassley, who has been a key player in the healthcare debate, tweeted:
Little disingenuous for pres obama to say "hurry up" pass healthCare. Wk here wk there makes little differenc considerin startup is 2013
President Obama and Democratic leaders have been anxious to bring a version of the bill to a vote, but when that will happen is still a matter of speculation.
Many observers consider the Senate Finance Committee's version of the bill to serve as an important indicator of the final form of the legislation. Negotiations in the committee continue. Look for Grassley's statement to have a big impact on the Hill.
The Congressional Health Care Caucus, a group of house Republicans working on the health bill, said that a "new deal" with Blue Dogs had been formed that unified the Democratic caucus.
Rep. John Culberson (R-Tex.) accused House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) of silencing his opposition to Democratic legislation. The Texan ran through a litany of incidents on Twitter on Thursday night, suggesting that Pelosi regularly turns off the microphone on the House floor and changed wording in his newsletter.
He even goaded Pelosi into censoring him on "social media."
Culberson also framed debate between Republicans and Democrats as "sunlight/freedom" versus "liberalism."
Leading Blue Dog Rep. Mike Ross (D-Ark.) said Thursday that healthcare reform legislation will be completed this year, fueling continued speculation that negotiations on the bill may last well beyond September.
President Barack Obama on Wednesday predicted that Congress would vote on the bill between late September and mid October.
"I am absolutely convinced we are gonna get healthcare reform done this year," Ross told KTHV in Little Rock, Ark. "I think putting any kind of deadline on it is a mistake because the American people don't want us to rush this," he added.
Markup of the bill in the House Energy and Commerce Committee, where Ross sits, broke down after centrist Blue Dogs pushed back against House leadership because of their the bill's high cost.
President Barack Obama's original August deadline also irked Ross and the Blue Dogs. "I believe it was a mistake," Ross said.
Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), a strong proponent of creating a government-run public option insurance program, isn't much interested in compromising.
A member of the Finance Committee, Rockefeller hasn't been shy about criticizing a compromise proposed by Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) to instead create not-for-profit, member-owned healthcare cooperatives that would compete with private insurance under healthcare reform.
Although centrist Blue Dog Democrats and House leaders reached a deal on the healthcare reform bill this afternoon, House Energy and Commerce Committee member Michael Burgess (R-Tex.) said negotiations had again broken down on the Democratic side.
The Energy and Commerce Committee has been the focal point of the standoff between Blue Dogs and more liberal House Democrats. Seven members of the Blue Dog coalition sit on the committee.
We were called back into committee for 1600. Then were immeadiately postponed-subject to the call of the chair.
And committee work has been postponed until 10AM tomorrow.
Dems cobbled a deal this afternoon, brought every1 to cmte but things fell apart on the dems side #healthbill faces another setback
Health Caucus tweeted that liberal members of the committee were unhappy with the Blue Dogs' deal, explaining the breakdown.
Under the previous deal, the two Democratic factions had settled to push back a floor vote on the bill past the August recess set to begin over the weekend. Also, they elminated $100 billion of spending from the legislation.
The Health Care Caucus is a group of Republican congressmen working on healthcare policy and is headed by Burgess, who is a physician.
The Texas Republican is also ranking member of the Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee.
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