By Alex Roarty
PoliticsPA Staff Writer
roarty@politicspa.com
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Pat Toomey began airing his first TV ad Monday, a 30-second spot that comes in the heat of a ferocious primary battle between Democrats Joe Sestak and Arlen Specter for their party’s nomination.
According to a press release, it will air statewide on broadcast and cable for an “indefinite” amount of time.
The ad frames Toomey as the common sense alternative to a political system that led to Wall Street bailouts, the Democratic Party’s health care bill and high unemployment — the theme of the former congressman’s campaign in the year since he declared his run for U.S. Senate.
It also positions him as as a principled representative, citing his time in Congress a decade ago, who opposed proposals from both parties when he thought they were fiscally irresponsible. Aligning himself strictly with neither party makes sense at a time when voters dislike both of them, and presenting yourself as a strong Republican still might not make much sense in a state that has voted overwhelmingly Democratic in recent years.
“Toomey’s taken on both parties when they’ve wasted tax dollars,” a narrator intones.
The former Club for Growth head debuts his ad in the middle of what has been a hard-fought contest between Specter and Sestak. The two Democrats have hit the airwaves hard in recent weeks, unveiling spots that aggressively criticize their opponent’s record.
Although neither of them will likely respond to it, the state Democratic Party didn’t let the ad debut without comment.
“Pat Toomey is a product of Wall Street, fought for the deregulation of Wall Street while in Congress, and continues to fight for Wall Street in opposing commonsense financial reforms,” said spokesman Patrick McKenna. “If he wants to base his campaign on his experience running dive bars in the Lehigh Valley then so be it. However, Pennsylvanians deserve the full picture of a man running to represent us in the United States Senate.”
Toomey Generations from Pat Toomey on Vimeo.
