GOP Launches Air War In Battle For Congress

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, Oct. 28) -- The Republican Party is taking to the air with a new $4 million ad campaign to try to keep control of Congress and fight an onslaught of advertising financed by organized labor.

Labor, for its part, isn't letting up on its ad blitz, and is additionally spreading out on the ground to fire up the troops to get out the vote.

The National Republican Congressional Committee kicked off its new ad campaign today. The spots, which will run in about 50 House districts, come close to writing off GOP nominee Bob Dole's chances, but not quite. "What would happen if the Democrats controlled Congress and the White House?" asks the ad. "Been there. Done that. Remember?"

The ad takes direct aim at the AFL-CIO's prominent role in this election: "The liberal special interests aligned with Clinton desperately want to buy back control of Congress," it says, and adds that having Democrats in charge would "give the special interests a blank check in Congress."

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney is on a five-state trip through New England to bolster the region's labor-friendly congressional candidates. "We are here to send a message to all the Dole guys in the United States Senate who followed Newt Gingrich's every move on Medicare and tax breaks for the wealthy," Sweeney said. "The message is this: America's unions are back on top, and you are headed for the bottom."

The union federation has spent $20 million this season on television ads, most of which was aimed at vulnerable GOP incumbents.

AFL-CIO's LaborWEB

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GOP Launches Air War In Battle For Congress

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