National GOP hits Dems on national security

Republicans are hitting four House Democrats on national security in a series of new ads focused on the terrorist threat in the Middle East and border security.

{mosads}The ads, from the National Republican Congressional Committee, targets Reps. Dan Maffei (D-N.Y.), Rick Nolan (D-Minn.), Ron Barber (D-Ariz.) and Democrat Staci Appel, running against Republican David Young for Rep. Tom Latham’s (R-Iowa) seat.

The ad running against Maffei opens with shots of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) fighters training, as a narrator says Maffei “cut funding for troops fighting terrorists … backed constitutional rights for foreign terrorists” and “voted to bring them to America.” It also says he would “keep police from detaining illegal immigrants who have been suspected of crimes.”

“Dan Maffei, dangerously wrong for our security,” the ad says.

Another ad calls Nolan “dangerously liberal” and says he voted to cut funds “for the fight against Al Qaeda,” against funding the Department of Veterans Affairs and against work requirements for welfare recipients.

The ad running in Iowa’s 3rd District labels Young “tough on terrorists” and says Appel wants “passports for terrorists,” using clips from a candidate roundtable.

And in Arizona’s 2nd District, the ad hits Barber on border security, featuring a Tucson, Ariz., rancher who says that “the failure of Washington to address the immigration issue is a travesty.”

On-screen text charges Barber “voted against funding for border security.”

“I don’t see Mr. Barber leading on any of those issues. When it comes to the border, Ron Barber is missing in action,” the rancher says in the ad.

The series of advertisements come as Republicans are seeing an unexpected opening on national security, after a summer that saw an uptick in international unrest and an immigration crisis at the border.

An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll out this month showed nearly half of Americans said they feel less safe than prior to the attacks on 9/11, and a recent CNN/ORC poll also showed nearly 60 percent of Americans disapprove of the way President Obama is handling terrorism.

A Pew Research Center survey showed an increase in the percentage of Americans who believe tougher enforcement of existing laws and stricter border security should be a priority, up to a third of Americans.

And because Obama failed to take executive action on deportations, Republicans believe they have some cover on immigration — once seen as a tricky and potentially damaging issue to tackle — and can hammer Democrats more heavily on border security.

The months of unrest have set up a midterm fight over an issue that’s typically not at the forefront of voters’ minds when they head to the polls, but it’s one that compounds the already tough political climate Democrats face this fall.