Republican super PAC tries to attack Democratic candidate, accidentally makes him look awesome
In the wake of multiple victories in special elections around the country, Democrats are turning their sights on Georgia, where another special election on April 18th will fill the congressional seat vacated by Donald Trump’s Health and Human Services Secretary, Tom Price. Georgia’s 6th congressional district has been solidly Republican since 1978, when Newt Gingrich was elected […]
In the wake of multiple victories in special elections around the country, Democrats are turning their sights on Georgia, where another special election on April 18th will fill the congressional seat vacated by Donald Trump’s Health and Human Services Secretary, Tom Price.
Georgia’s 6th congressional district has been solidly Republican since 1978, when Newt Gingrich was elected to the seat. But this year, Democrats have a formidable candidate in Jon Ossoff, a documentary filmmaker and former congressional aide. Ossoff’s campaign has already raised $2 million in under two months, and he is leading polls by 6.8 percent.
Republican strategists on the Hill are alarmed by Ossoff’s meteoric rise, and a GOP super PAC, the Congressional Leadership Fund, just took out a $1.1 million ad buy against him.
The only problem is that the attack ad, titled “The Truth Strikes Back,” did not come off exactly the way they were likely hoping:
VOICEOVER: Jon Ossoff really wants you to think he’s ready to be in Congress.
OSSOFF: I’ve got five years of experience as a national security staffer.
VOICEOVER: There’s just one problem: Ossoff wasn’t exactly fighting against terrorism — he was fighting against restrictions on keg parties! You see, Ossoff was just a college kid, doing things like dressing up with his drinking buddies and pretending to be Han Solo.
YOUNGER OSSOFF: I’m Han Solo, captain of the Millennium Falcon. She’s the baby that ran four kegs by DOPS in under 3 parsecs.
VOICEOVER: And here’s Ossoff and his college buddies making fun of Georgetown’s female students.
YOUNGER OSSOFF AND OTHERS: [singing parody song ‘Georgetown Girl’]
VOICEOVER: Jon Ossoff: Not honest, not serious, not ready. Sorry, Jonny, but the truth strikes back.
The obvious aim with this ad was to depict Ossoff as an immature fraternity guy, who is not ready to shoulder the responsibility of public office.
Instead, it made him look like a genuinely fun, humorous, and relatable person, and reactions on social media make clear how badly this ad backfired:
Would someone like to remind these dummies that Han Solo was a hero and helped save the Republic? #electjon https://t.co/XlB5dqIT5c
— GeorgiaBlue JC (@JanUnhinged) March 1, 2017
😂😂GOP spends millions on an ad that makes me ❤️ @ossoff even more- down to earth, funny, young! THANK YOU @GOP #UniteBlue#TheResistance https://t.co/pLLB2v0nmv
— jrt1971 (@luvman33wife) March 2, 2017
Ha! House GOP put out an attack ad on Dem Jon Ossoff in GA-06 special election. I'm guessing this wasn't the intended effect… pic.twitter.com/WbGWqEnoBz
— Matt McDermott (@mattmfm) March 1, 2017
Hahahah @CLFSuperPAC forgot to turn off YouTube comments. Everyone's saying they like Ossoff more & just donated! https://t.co/qpGfvcXKr9 pic.twitter.com/LNUzYcijEN
— David Nir (@DavidNir) March 1, 2017
If Republican megadonors and strategists are this out of touch about the way the American people perceive public officials, it bodes ill for Trump’s prospects of keeping his unified Republican majority for much longer.
Recommended
Republican Jay Ashcroft backs anti-abortion clinics that push lies and disinformation
The Republic Pregnancy Resource Center website provides step-by-step directions from local middle and high schools to their address.
By Jesse Valentine - May 14, 2024Republican Sam Brown’s assault on teacher unions could backfire
Brown has called for abolishing the U.S. Department of Education.
By Jesse Valentine - May 09, 2024Florida abortion ban puts GOP Rep. Anna Paulina Luna’s anti-choice views in spotlight
Luna supports abortions bans with no exceptions for rape
By Jesse Valentine - May 07, 2024Trump leaves door open to banning medication abortion nationwide
Donald Trump is planning to release more details in the weeks ahead about how his administration would regulate access to medication abortion, according to comments he made during a lengthy interview with Time magazine published Tuesday.
By Jennifer Shutt, States Newsroom - April 30, 2024Republican Caroleene Dobson wants Alabama abortion ban to go nationwide
Dobson is the Republican candidate in what will be one of the most-watched House races of 2024.
By Jesse Valentine - April 30, 2024Ohio Gov. DeWine said he didn’t know of millions in FirstEnergy support. Is it plausible?
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s claim to not know about the millions an Akron utility spent supporting his 2018 campaign for governor simply isn’t credible, an Ohio political scientist said in a recent interview. A spokesperson for DeWine pushed back. FirstEnergy provided that support, then spent more than $60 million to pass and protect a $1.3 billion ratepayer-financed […]
By Marty Schladen, Ohio Capital Journal - April 29, 2024GOP Rep. Zach Nunn suggests laws against hate crime aren’t needed
Hate crimes in the United States rose from 2022 to 2023.
By Jesse Valentine - April 15, 2024GOP Senate candidate Hung Cao blames racial equity for Baltimore bridge tragedy
Cao is a former U.S Navy captain.
By Jesse Valentine - March 29, 2024GOP Rep. Jennifer Kiggans donates thousands to far-right extremists
Kiggans has flirted with baseless conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.
By Jesse Valentine - March 08, 2024Ohio senate candidate Bernie Moreno: “Absolute pro-life no exceptions.”
Ohio voted to protect abortion rights. GOP senate candidate Bernie Moreno doesn't care.
By Jesse Valentine - March 07, 2024Anti-China Republicans pocket thousands from Chinese owned conglomerate
Syngenta AG owns approximately 1500 acres of U.S farmland.
By Jesse Valentine - March 04, 2024Republican Eric Hovde makes inconsistent statements about family history
Hovde is running for U.S. Senate in Wisconsin despite primarily residing in California.
By Jesse Valentine - February 26, 2024Republican David McCormick invests millions in website that platforms Holocaust denial
McCormick says we need leaders with the moral clarity to condemn antisemitism.
By Jesse Valentine - February 09, 2024Lawmakers will again take up bills expanding, tightening gun laws
Of the nearly dozen gun bills lawmakers will soon take up, one is particularly noteworthy because it’s backed by unlikely allies: mental health advocates and a pair of House members who’ve long been at opposite ends of firearm legislation.
By Annmarie Timmins, New Hampshire Bulletin - January 31, 2024UAW delivers rousing presidential endorsement for Biden over ‘scab’ Trump
The United Auto Workers of America endorsed the re-election of President Joe Biden Wednesday, just months after he became the first sitting U.S. president to walk a picket line with striking autoworkers in Michigan.
By Ashley Murray, States Newsroom - January 24, 2024Republicans Sam Brown and Jeff Gunter sling mud in Nevada senate primary
Gunter has repeatedly referred to Brown as “Scam Brown”
By Jesse Valentine - January 17, 2024A Young Texas Woman Almost Died Due To The Texas Abortion Bans – Now She’s Battling To Save Other Women
The state of Texas robbed Amanda Zurawski of her fertility and almost her life when it wouldn’t permit her an abortion so she’s gone to the state’s Supreme Court to change the law - “this is why I’m on earth”
By Bonnie Fuller - January 10, 2024Health care legislation preview: Maryland advocates want to focus on access, patients in 2024 session
Health care-focused organizations across the state are hopeful that the 2024 legislative session will be a year that reins in health costs and allows patients to have greater access to the care they need.
By Danielle J. Brown, Maryland Matters - January 08, 2024How GOP senate hopefuls try to excuse the January 6 insurrection
Five people died on January 6, 2021 – including a police officer who was bludgeoned to death.
By Jesse Valentine - January 05, 2024NH lawmakers will be taking up major voting bills this year. Here are some to watch for.
On Wednesday, the New Hampshire House passed a bill that would make registering to vote an online experience.
By Ethan DeWitt, New Hampshire Bulletin - January 04, 2024Republican US Senate candidates want to make Trump’s tax cuts permanent
Most Americans believe wealthy individuals and big corporations don’t pay their fair share in taxes.
By Jesse Valentine - December 22, 2023Rand Paul went all in on the Kentucky governor’s race. It didn’t work.
Even the Republican senator's home county gave Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear a larger share of the vote than four years earlier.
By - December 15, 2023Texas governor and attorney general do little to curb state’s chemical plant crisis
Republicans Greg Abbott and Ken Paxton have taken thousands of dollars in donations from chemical companies and their affiliated PACs.
By Jesse Valentine - December 08, 2023Likely GOP Senate candidate Eric Hovde proposed tax hike for poorer workers and retirees
Eric Hovde's proposal is similar to Sen. Rick Scott's unpopular 2022 plan to make every American pay income taxes.
By Jesse Valentine - December 07, 2023Whitmer signs specific criminal penalties for assaulting health care workers into law
A bipartisan package of bills in Michigan signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer at Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, creates specified criminal penalties for assaulting health care workers.
By Anna Liz Nichols, Michigan Advance - December 06, 2023105 Republicans voted to expel Santos for things Trump has also done
Both former President Donald Trump and former U.S. Rep. George Santos have lied about their records and been accused of defrauding veterans.
By Jesse Valentine - December 05, 2023For Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, another Trump term is another chance to kill Obamacare
Millions of Texas families’ health and well-being would be jeopardized if the legislation were repealed.
By Jesse Valentine - December 04, 2023Florida Sen. Rick Scott backs Donald Trump in revived push to repeal Obamacare
More than 3 million Floridians will lose their health insurance if Scott and Trump succeed.
By Jesse Valentine - November 30, 2023Tate Reeves took donations from power company that hiked customer rates
Republican Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves took $98,000 from Mississippi Power and executives of its parent company.
By Jesse Valentine - November 06, 2023Daniel Cameron ran on depoliticizing the Kentucky AG’s office. He made it more political.
The Republican gubernatorial nominee also broke his promises to make the office more frugal.
By Jesse Valentine - November 03, 2023Republican operatives sound every alarm on current trajectory of 2023 governor’s race
It might not surprise Mississippians that The Cook Political Report, regarded as one of the nation’s preeminent elections experts, shifted their 2023 Mississippi governor’s race forecast on Monday in Democrat Brandon Presley’s direction.
By Adam Ganucheau, Mississippi Today - October 24, 2023Veto overrides push Kansas anti-abortion bills into law, while Louisiana seeks to protect IVF
Abortion-related bills continue to be introduced and debated in legislatures across the country, especially in states where the procedure is already banned.
By Kelcie Moseley-Morris, Idaho Capital Sun - May 10, 2024Ted Cruz’s wildfire relief reversal sparks accusations of hypocrisy
Cruz voted against a 2021 effort to help farmers impacted by wildfires
By Jesse Valentine - May 10, 2024