Sen. Klobuchar launches first TV ads

[jct74]

Sen. Klobuchar launches first TV ads

ByBryna Godar
Posted: Sun, 9/30, 10:33pm

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) launched her first television ads Sunday with five weeks left before Election Day, according to Minnesota Public Radio.

The two 30-second spots, titled "Saved" and "Outrageous," focus on Klobuchar's track record as she worked to save car dealerships and to obtain health care for a wounded veteran.

To air the ads statewide, her campaign is spending more than $300,000, the Star Tribune reported.

The campaign manager for Republican challenger Kurt Bills said they have spots taped and ready to run, but that he felt it was too early to start running ads, according to the Star Tribune. Bills has not yet bought any ad time at any Twin Cities TV stations, MPR reported.

A Star Tribune poll shows Klobuchar far outpacing her opponent in polls.

http://www.mndaily.com/blogs/filed-under-politics/2012/09/30/sen-klobuchar-launches-first-tv-ads

 

[kathy88]

Smart of her to stop with the Bills attack ads.

 

[jct74]

Bills press release

Klobuchar Commercial “Saved” Perfect Example of Crony Capitalism

Posted on Tuesday, October 2nd, 2012 at 11:00 am.
Written by Kurt Bills for US Senate

Klobuchar Commercial “Saved” Perfect Example of Crony Capitalism

Government as Mafia-Style Protection Racket​

BLOOMINGTON, MN—Amy Klobuchar is bragging about helping “save” Paul Walser’s business.

The problem? Amy Klobuchar voted for the program that was going to eliminate his dealerships in the first place. And now she is getting Walser’s support for her campaign.

“Amy Klobuchar is celebrating crony capitalism and the government-as-protection-racket reality of the 21st century,” said Mike Osskopp, manager for the Kurt Bills campaign.

Walser’s company owns GM dealerships, which were under threat of closure in the government bailout restructuring of GM. “GM is alive and Osama is dead” has become the rallying cry of the Obama campaign, and Klobuchar has celebrated the bailout in her campaign, including a campaign appearance with the Vice President.

It was the government restructuring that threatened Walser’s dealerships, and he is grateful that Amy Klobuchar helped thwart for him the very policy she helped put in place.

“Protection rackets work this way: threaten to destroy something, and then demand a reward for not doing so. That is exactly what happened here. Klobuchar voted to destroy Walser’s livelihood, and then provided relief. And now she has his support and endorsement in a TV advertisement.

Ultimately a lot of smaller dealerships in Minnesota were closed. Some, like Walser’s, were saved through political influence.

“Crony capitalism is the distribution of economic benefits to favored, politically connected businesses. That is what happened here. Klobuchar bestowed a benefit to Walser, and the favor is being returned,” said Osskopp. “Big guys win, little guys lose in crony capitalism. That is Amy Klobuchar’s vision.”

“I can’t believe Klobuchar is bragging about this. It encapsulates everything that is wrong with today’s economy,” said Osskopp.

http://kurtbills.com/klobuchar-commercial-saved-perfect-example-crony-capitalism/

 

[Lovecraftian4Paul]

Yuck. I hate how Klobuchar always presents a wicked smile and gets away with everything. All the attention is constantly focused on Franken who puts his foot in his mouth, while she quietly votes the exact same way.

 

[jct74]

another press release + web ad

Bills: Klobuchar Helped Contributor, Let Others Fail

Posted on Friday, October 5th, 2012 at 1:00 pm.
Written by Kurt Bills for US Senate

Bills: Klobuchar Helped Contributor, Let Others Fail

Web video responds to Klobuchar’s “Saved” Ad​

BLOOMINGTON, MN—The Kurt Bills campaign is coming out swinging against Amy Klobuchar’s commercial “Saved,” in which she brags that her intervention for Paul Walser helped save his dealerships from being closed by government-owned General Motors.

Bills’ web advertisement points out that Klobuchar voted for the TARP program under which the government took over GM, and that it was the government that was threatening to close his dealerships. Klobuchar, in other words, had helped create the problem she then helped solve through political intervention.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMungGUpGHg

Walser in turn contributed the maximum allowed by law to her campaign—something he had not done before. He is also endorsing her for reelection.

Other dealerships without the political connections of Walser—most in greater Minnesota—did not get the help from Klobuchar. Klobuchar at the time specifically pointed out the profitability of Walser’s dealerships as a reason to save them. This is exactly what is meant by the term “crony capitalism,” where the government gets to decide who profits and who doesn’t in the economy.

The ad also takes a shot at the press, which has not investigated the relationship between political connections and economic favoritism in this case—despite the fact that this is one of only two ads Klobuchar is running to make her case for reelection.

“Crony capitalism is ruining this country, and is one of the reasons I am running for office. Klobuchar is bragging about her support of crony capitalism, in which government bails out the big banks and big businesses, and lets the little guy fail,” said Kurt Bills.

“Where is the media? They are ignoring Klobuchar’s record and even the substance of Klobuchar’s campaign. Klobuchar is bragging about her support of the Budget Control Act, which created the ‘fiscal cliff’ everybody is worried about. She is running on crony capitalism, which is destroying our economy. She is running on Obamacare, which is ruining our health care system and driving up costs. The press ignores her record and her campaign themes, never asking the hard questions. It’s as if the campaign is a popularity contest and not about the future of our country,” Bills concluded.

http://kurtbills.com/bills-klobuchar-helped-contributor-let-others-fail/

 

[Lucille]

Yuck. I hate how Klobuchar always presents a wicked smile and gets away with everything. All the attention is constantly focused on Franken who puts his foot in his mouth, while she quietly votes the exact same way.

HotAir's Ed Morrisey says she's really very nice, and I have no doubt that he will vote for her since neo-Trots like him would much prefer any D over an RPR.

hxxp://hotair.com/archives/2012/08/14/video-i-wish-you-wouldnt/

Bills will challenge Amy Klobuchar for her current Senate seat, and it will be difficult to beat Klobuchar. She has excellent name recognition in the state, has a reputation as a genuinely nice person (which I can confirm as true, in all honesty and fairness)
[...]
The only real hope here is that Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan gain a lot of traction in the state, and that Bills can get the Ron Paul organization that pushed him to a second-ballot victory in May to energize nationally on his behalf. It’s going to be a long shot, but this is a pretty good opening move for Bills.

hxxp://hotair.com/archives/2012/09/14/poll-shows-voter-id-traditional-marriage-amendments-winning-in-mn/

Earlier this week, the Bills campaign announced that internal polling had the Republican nominee within 15 points of Klobuchar. That’s certainly possible, but Survey USA usually does a credible job of polling Minnesota, almost always as a client for KSTP. There is little evidence of any momentum on the ground here, at least not yet, and the fact that the campaign felt the need to trumpet a double-digit deficit asgood news tells us about the state of the race at the moment. Bills has almost two months to catch up to Klobuchar, but unless he makes a move soon, he may never really get on the radar of voters outside the core conservative/libertarian base here.

Well, shame on us.

 

[DeMintConservative]

Ed Morrisey has promoted Bills on HotAir a lot in spite of this being pretty much an unwinnable race from the beginning. Of course, him being from MN helps, but find me a candidate polling at the same level who's had 1/5 of the posts dedicated to his race.

Minnesotans love incumbent senators who are backbenchers like Klobuchar. They always relect them. I don't think there's a living Republican who could beat Klobuchar this year.