To be fair to Democratic candidate David Weprin, some of the campaign blunders on his side have been out of his control. Take, for example, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s poorly-timed $500,000 ad buy that showed a cartoon of a “corporate jet” careening low across the New York City skyline, just days before Sept. 11. The DCCC has already been forced to pull that one, but now another pro-Democratic group is out with a six-figure ad buy tying Republican candidate Bob Turner to the Tea Party.
“If Republicans are going to play footsies with the Tea Party, the House Majority PAC is going to stomp on their toes,” said Ali Lapp, executive director, House Majority PAC, in a press release. “House Majority PAC will be educating voters in NY-09 of Robert Turner’s embrace of the Tea Party and his commitment to reducing taxes for the wealthiest, while making seniors pay more for Medicare.”
But the Democrats are in a bad place if the best they can come up with is linking Turner to the Tea Party. They tried it earlier in the race, and it hasn’t stuck. Not only are Turner’s positions out of sync with the movement – he’s opposed Paul Ryan’s entitlement-reform plan for one – he’s also turned down support from Tea Party organizations. The fact that Turner is endorsed by Ed Koch, the the New York Daily News and Democrats on the local assembly also undermines the case. And while the ad does hit Turner on health care for senior citizens, a top issue in the district, the whole Tea Party, British-accent gimmick steps on it a little.
The latest Siena poll has Turner with a 6-point lead this morning, and there may be more bad news for Weprin to come. Democratic-affiliated Public Policy Polling will release a poll as well, and if these tweets are any indication, Weprin’s team is right to be nervous.
