Conservatives have been attacking President Obama's response to the Ebola outbreak, with one outfit calling him "President Ebola." But it's a liberal group that aired one of the first 2014 political ads about the spreading virus, with the none-too-subtle title, "Republican Cuts Kill."
The Agenda Project initially plans to air the ad in Kentucky, but hopes to raise funds to air the ad in other states.
The ad comes on the heels of a Huffington Post interview with the director of NIH, Dr. Francis Collins, who contended that we would have developed an Ebola vaccine by now if not for budget cuts sustained over the past decade. Republicans have a counter-argument from Governor Bobby Jindal, who argued in a Politico op-ed that the federal government could have reallocated the limited funds it had to prioritize the fight against Ebola.
Some Republican candidates have been criticizing the White House for not instituting a travel ban on West African countries, but we haven't seen them use the issue in ads, yet. With the third case of Ebola in the United States confirmed, we wouldn’t be surprised if more ads are released, and if the videos go "viral."
The Agenda Project initially plans to air the ad in Kentucky, but hopes to raise funds to air the ad in other states.
Will Budget Cuts Come Back To Bite Mitch McConnell and Pat Roberts?
Vulnerable Republicans, including Kentucky’s Senator Mitch McConnell, Senator Pat Roberts of Kansas, Representative Steve Southerland of Florida and Representative Michael Grimm of New York, are seen in the ad, saying often, only "cut." Images of Ebola victims are displayed along with statistics tallying budget cuts to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institute for Health.The ad comes on the heels of a Huffington Post interview with the director of NIH, Dr. Francis Collins, who contended that we would have developed an Ebola vaccine by now if not for budget cuts sustained over the past decade. Republicans have a counter-argument from Governor Bobby Jindal, who argued in a Politico op-ed that the federal government could have reallocated the limited funds it had to prioritize the fight against Ebola.
Mark Pryor Went There First
This is not the very first Ebola ad of the campaign. Democratic Senator Mark Pryor of Arkansas ran an ad back in August charging his Republican challenger, Representative Tom Cotton, "voted against preparing America for pandemics like Ebola ... he was the only Arkansas congressman to vote this way." However, Pryor undercut his own message when he failed to give a clear answer to a question about President Obama's effectiveness in managing the crisis.Some Republican candidates have been criticizing the White House for not instituting a travel ban on West African countries, but we haven't seen them use the issue in ads, yet. With the third case of Ebola in the United States confirmed, we wouldn’t be surprised if more ads are released, and if the videos go "viral."