WASHINGTON — A political group that backs House Republican leaders is using a $1.3 million television ad campaign to press two dozen representatives to back GOP efforts to scuttle President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul. And most of the lawmakers they’re aiming at are Republicans.
The 30-second spots are by the American Action Network. They come as Republicans struggle to unite behind a plan to replace Obama’s law, nicknamed “Obamacare.”
Of the 24 House lawmakers whose districts are being targeted, 16 are Republicans and eight are Democrats. The ads in GOP markets say the local lawmaker “has a plan to fix” Obama’s law and asks viewers to urge the representative “to keep fighting for patient-centered health care.”
Not surprisingly, the spots targeting Democrats have a harder edge.
“Rick Nolan supports Obamacare, and Minnesota families are paying the price,” says one directed at Rep. Rick Nolan, D-Minn. It says people should tell Nolan “to replace ObamaCare with the better health care we deserve.”
Repeating oft-used Republican descriptions, the ads say the GOP plan will focus on “patient-centered care with more choices and lower costs.” They say they’ll give “peace of mind” to people with pre-existing conditions, provide tax credits, let small businesses unite in insurance pools to lower costs and yield a “stronger” Medicare.
Democrats say that GOP proposals would provide less coverage than Obama’s system, force higher out-of-pocket costs on consumers and weaken Medicare.
Ten of the Republicans are from competitive districts, including three in California. The other six are aimed at some top GOP lawmakers, with one official saying the goal is to show those leaders an effective, poll-tested way to sell the GOP drive.
The action network says it picked Democrats from House districts that President Donald Trump won last fall.
The ads are airing nationally and on local stations in the 26 districts and will run for two weeks.