Source: Politics
American Action Network, a nonprofit with close ties to House GOP leadership, is launching an opening salvo of a campaign tying vulnerable Democrats to President Joe Biden’s proposed tax hikes.
The group began a $1 million ad buy on Monday in three battleground districts held by Reps. Cindy Axne (D-Iowa), Jared Golden (D-Maine) and Ron Kind (D-Wis.). The 30-second spot features a business owner panning the president’s $2 trillion infrastructure bill that will enact “a big tax hike on companies like mine.”
“This bill is gonna kill jobs here,” the owner said in the ad. “It’s gonna put companies out of business. It’s gonna crush working-class families.”
This campaign, set to target three Democratic incumbents whose swing seats are unlikely to change significantly in redistricting, is the beginning of a tax attack line that Republicans plan to use throughout the cycle.
To finance a massive infrastructure package, Democrats have said they will raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans and corporations that have evaded federal taxes for years. And they’re cautiously optimistic it will be popular after a global pandemic that only heightened the economic disparities in the U.S.
But now the messaging war begins. The AAN ads telegraph a plan to cast the tax hikes as an unseemly burden on small companies just getting back to normal after Covid-related shutdowns. And the spot name-checks House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — not Biden, who has proved to be a weaker foil for the GOP.
“This is just the first step of our efforts to ensure Americans understand the disastrous consequences Pelosi’s plan would bear for families, small businesses, and our economic recovery,” said AAN President Dan Conston.
Corporate honchos and lobbyists also plan to pressure moderate Democrats in both chambers to vote against the tax hikes. And some vulnerable members are already feeling uncertain.
The AAN spots will air on TV and digital platforms in the La Crosse and Wausau media markets in Wisconsin; the Des Moines, Iowa, market; and in Maine in the Bangor, Portland and Presque Isle markets. Former President Donald Trump carried all three districts under the 2020 map lines, though Axne’s he won only narrowly.
Kind already faces a rematch from his 2020 opponent, Derrick Van Orden, who lost by 2 points last cycle. Republicans are still recruiting in Iowa and Maine.