Karl Rove’s Ludicrous New Ad Casts Tea Party Republican As A Pro-Entitlement Messiah

It finally happened. We’re only a few months away from the 2014 midterms and I thought maybe we’d see a longer roster of infuriatingly misleading campaign ads from Karl Rove’s Crossroads GPS outfit. But finally we have our first big winner.

Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR) is running for reelection against Republican nominee Rep. Tom Cotton (R-AR), a tea party candidate who, by the way, is leading the incumbent by three or more points in every recent poll. It’s still close enough, however, to warrant another ludicrous ad buy from Rove. The new anti-Pryor ad is as twisted as we’ve come to expect from Rove whose prowess at up-is-down-black-is-white politics is virtually unmatched, and this ad is no exception.

First and foremost, it attempts to hit Pryor on his left flank by painting the senator as being an enemy of Social Security and Medicare — two programs that small-government, anti-redistributionist tea party cranks like Tom Cotton ought to hate. Yet here’s this ad in which Pryor is targeted as the mortal enemy of so-called entitlements. While Pryor’s record itself isn’t spotless, attacking him for his posture on Social Security in support of Cotton is hilarious.

NARRATOR: It’s troubling that Senator Mark Pryor said we should overhaul Social Security and Medicare. On Social Security, Pryor suggested raising the retirement age.

No, no he didn’t and we’ll get to the Pryor quote from the ad in a second, but in fact it’s Tom Cotton who supports raising the retirement age. Cotton posted an item on his campaign website in September of 2011 in which he said he “support[s] plans like Paul Ryan’s Path to Prosperity budget and the Republican Study Committee’s Honest Solutions budget.” The latter, the Republican Study Committee’s Honest Solutions budget, called for among other things raising the Social Security retirement age. Whaa-whaa.

And now the alleged “retirement age” soundbite used in ad… CONTINUE READING

By: Bob Cesca

Bob Cesca is the managing editor at The Daily Banter (www.thedailybanter.com) and a Huffington Post contributor since 2005. He's worked in journalism since 1988 as a print writer/editor, a radio news anchor, a digital media columnist/editor, a book author and blogger. He's the co-host of the Bubble Genius Bob & Chez Show podcast and a Thursday regular on the syndicated Stephanie Miller Show. He's appeared on numerous other radio shows including the John Phillips Show and Geraldo Rivera Show in Los Angeles. Bob has been a commentator/analyst on the BBC (TV and radio), MSNBC, Current TV, CNN and Sky News. Following him on Twitter: @bobcesca_go