Super PAC launches job report robocall attack on Dems

USA Today
October 5th, 2012 
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A conservative super PAC is using today’s jobs report to launch robocalls against Democrats in 15 competitive House races.

The calls by the Congressional Leadership Fund employ Vice President Biden’s recent comments, describing a middle class that “has been buried the last four years,” to tie Democratic candidates to President Obama.

Republicans have seized on Biden’s remarks, delivered at a Charlotte event, as evidence that Obama’s economic policies have failed. (GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney is even selling an “Honest Joe” T-shirt for a $30 donation to his campaign.)

The jobs report shows U.S. unemployment fell to 7.8%, its lowest mark in nearly four years – delivering a potential boost to Obama. But the conservative group said the jobs picture remains too weak. “Democrats deserve to be held responsible for the policies that are burying the middle class and will lead to lost jobs and higher family costs,” spokesman Dan Conston said in a statement. “In this last month, we’ll make sure they are.”

The leadership fund is part of the American Action Network, a non-profit run by former Minnesota senator Norm Coleman and founded by Fred Malek, a veteran Republican fundraiser. The calls are running in 10 states.

In an example of the script being used in western New York, where Democratic Rep. Kathy Hochul is locked in a tight race with businessman Chris Collins, a Republican, says: ” I am calling on behalf of the Congressional Leadership Fund to tell you about the weak new jobs report. With just 114,000 jobs added, it’s yet another failure of policies supported by Obama and Kathy Hochul. But we don’t need a jobs report to know that these failed economic policies are hurting family’s bottom lines. We’ve been buried in it.” The script concludes: “What’s Kathy Hochul and Barack Obama’s plan for your economy? More of the same. We can’t afford Kathy Hochul in Congress. The economy would suffocate.”