Groups target GOP senators on stimulus

A coalition of
Democratic-leaning organizations is spending millions of dollars on a campaign
aimed at convincing five Republican senators to back the economic stimulus
legislation.

The Campaign for
Jobs and Economic Recovery, a group of labor and political organizations, is
targeting GOP Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Olympia Snowe (Maine), Judd Gregg
(N.H.), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Chuck Grassley (Iowa) with a 30-second
spot. The ad includes audio excerpts from President Obama’s Jan. 8 speech at
George Mason University, when he made his case for the stimulus package that
could exceed $900 billion.

{mosads}”We start
2009 in the midst of a crisis unlike any we have seen in our lifetime. That is
why I have moved quickly on an American recovery and reinvestment plan,”
Obama said during the speech.

An ad mixes that
clip with voiceovers imploring the Republicans to cross the aisle: “Tell Sens.
Collins and Snowe to support the Obama plan for jobs, not the failed policies
of the past,” a voiceover intones in the ad running in Maine.

Collins and Snowe
were among the five Republicans who have already supported the legislation at
the committee level.

Obama won in
Maine, New Hampshire and Iowa by large margins, though he lost Alaska’s
electoral votes. The ads aim to pressure Murkowski, Gregg and Grassley, all of
whom face re-election in 2010, to vote for the Senate version of the stimulus
package.

Collins won
reelection in 2008 and Snowe doesn’t face voters again until 2012.

The ads, which
will cost $500,000 total, are being funded by Americans United for Change,
MoveOn.org, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and
the Service Employees International Union. The group of organizations estimated
it would spend a combined $4 to $5 million on the entire campaign.

The announcement
of the new campaign comes just a day after the House passed a stimulus package
without a single Republican vote, a situation Democrats in the Senate hope to
avoid.

“It is time
for Republicans to put partisanship behind them and stand with President
Obama,” AFSCME president Gerald McEntee said in a statement, promising
that his members would contact their senators to urge them to vote in favor of
the plan.

The full Senate
is expected to take up debate on the stimulus plan next week.