With two weeks to go until Arizona's Republican Senate primary, conservative challenger Kelli Ward is getting some big help from her affiliated super PAC. KelliPAC is spending $600,000 on an attack ad aimed straight at incumbent Sen. John McCain's tenuous relationship with the conservative base.
The narrator continues, "...how he joined with liberals to bail out Wall Street and bust the debt limit." The first is a reference to the controversial 2008 Troubled Asset Relief Program law responding to the global market panic, in which McCain not only "joined with liberals" but also President George W. Bush.
And "bust the debt limit" refers to the October 2013 vote to end the conservative-led government shutdown and accept a bipartisan budget compromise that lifted the debt ceiling. That was a necessary step to avoid a default on the national debt, but one that makes some conservatives seethe.
The ad even swerves left to knock McCain's record of foreign policy hawkishness, saying he "supported Hillary's disastrous war in Libya."
The narrator sums up by charging McCain with an animus towards conservatives: "We've all felt it, John McCain, getting his kicks cheerleading for the other team."
The emphasis on "us" and portraying McCain as with "the other team" is integral for the Ward campaign's goal of severing McCain's decades-long tie to Republican voters. And there is no doubt that a faction of Arizona conservatives is virulently opposed to McCain -- Donald Trump won the state's presidential primary in a landslide despite having disparaged McCain for being "captured" during the Vietnam War.
The question for Ward and her allies is whether that faction is big enough to beat McCain in what is essentially a two-person race.
Kelli Ward Super PAC Says John McCain "Betrayed Us"
The "Time For Change" ad speaks with familiarity to conservatives, as if explanations are not needed when describing McCain as an ideological apostate. "We all remember how he betrayed us on amnesty, first with Ted Kennedy, then the Gang of Eight..." the narrator says, referencing McCain's support for immigration reform legislation in 2007 and 2013.The narrator continues, "...how he joined with liberals to bail out Wall Street and bust the debt limit." The first is a reference to the controversial 2008 Troubled Asset Relief Program law responding to the global market panic, in which McCain not only "joined with liberals" but also President George W. Bush.
And "bust the debt limit" refers to the October 2013 vote to end the conservative-led government shutdown and accept a bipartisan budget compromise that lifted the debt ceiling. That was a necessary step to avoid a default on the national debt, but one that makes some conservatives seethe.
The ad even swerves left to knock McCain's record of foreign policy hawkishness, saying he "supported Hillary's disastrous war in Libya."
The narrator sums up by charging McCain with an animus towards conservatives: "We've all felt it, John McCain, getting his kicks cheerleading for the other team."
Kelli Ward "With Us," John McCain "For The Other Team"
The ad then shifts to focus on Ward. The music becomes inspirational and skies turn baby blue. Ward is introduced as "rock solid on the border and conservative principles. Bold, fresh, standing with us."The emphasis on "us" and portraying McCain as with "the other team" is integral for the Ward campaign's goal of severing McCain's decades-long tie to Republican voters. And there is no doubt that a faction of Arizona conservatives is virulently opposed to McCain -- Donald Trump won the state's presidential primary in a landslide despite having disparaged McCain for being "captured" during the Vietnam War.
The question for Ward and her allies is whether that faction is big enough to beat McCain in what is essentially a two-person race.