Democrats Resort to Entitlement Fear-Mongering In Mid-Terms

by Dan Riehl

Sep 24, 2014 5:46 PM PT

The patest tactic of Democrats cocnerrned about lsoing their Senate majority in November involves trying to motivate more seniors to turn out and vote for them, as opposed to the GOP in November.

Per a National Journal report, this is from a new ad targeting Republican Bill Cassidy in Louisiana. "Bill Cassidy needs to know that seniors are paying attention ... Seniors are troubled by Bill Cassidy's vote to raise the eligibility age for Medicare.... There's more: Cassidy wants to replace Medicare with a voucher system, requiring seniors to buy private insurance with fewer benefits and higher costs."

The ad ends with, "Seniors can't afford to pay more."

The DSCC is reportedly backing the ad with $2.5 million.

The DSCC has run entitlement-themed ads in Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, and New Hampshire in recent weeks, as well as running a previous Social Security-centered ad in Louisiana earlier this month. Democrats are even using the issue this week in the Arkansas governor's race, even though federal benefits are outside the purview of any state official.

Entitlements have always been a potent issue for Democrats, particularly among older voters—a group that tends to vote in disproportionately high numbers in midterm elections. These issues, coupled with ads on women's issues and the GOP "war on women," have been Democrats' top attack lines against GOP Senate candidates.

The ads have put Republican candidates on the defensive on these issues, causing many of them to respond with ads of their own. Arkansas GOP Rep. Tom Cotton, for example, ran three separate ads explaining his position on entitlements. GOP state Sen. Joni Ernst in Iowa, too, took heat for suggesting she would consider privatizing Social Security, then recently ran an ad where she affirmed her belief in "protecting Social Security for seniors."

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