Republican attack ads roil Minnesota congressional campaign

[TexasTowelie]

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — New ads in a pivotal Minnesota congressional race accuse Democrat Dean Phillips of hypocrisy on health care, saying he hasn't provided insurance for his own employees even as he proclaims it's a "moral right" that everyone should have.

The wealthy businessman struck back with his own ad this week, saying U.S. Rep. Erik Paulsen is "not telling you the truth," and asserting that he offers insurance to full-time employees of his coffee shops, as he did with companies he previously ran.

The Congressional Leadership Fund, which is aligned with U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan, debuted an ad last week in support of Paulsen, who released an ad making similar claims the same day. Phillips rolled out his counterattack Tuesday.

Paulsen is seeking a sixth term to represent a suburban district that was once solidly Republican but has become a swing district. A recent New York Times/Siena College poll gave Phillips a 9-point lead.

Read more: http://www.mankatofreepress.com/region/republican-attack-ads-roil-minnesota-congressional-campaign/article_6380607f-e5cd-517a-9a67-8dd415ecb74f.html

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. The Republicans are doing what they always do: LIE. n/t

[dflprincess]

3. It is kind of fun to listen to 2 vulnerable Republicans

Jason Lewis in MN-02 and Erik Paulsen in MN-03 both Koch backed, Trump loving weasels run ads questioning the business ethics of their opponents (Angie Craig & Dean Phillips). Proving once again that Republicans are irony deficient.

538 has the DFLers up in both districts. This is a real shock for Paulsen who has never had a real contest even though his district went to Obama twice and to Clinton in 2016. I'm hoping people are learning the importance of paying attention to down ticket races.

[the_sly_pig]

2. Netflix, Prime and Hulu....

Zero commercials. Just sayin....

[GatoGordo]

4. It's going to get worse. The attack ads are all over the radio and TV

I live in MN-1, currently held by Tim Walz, who is retiring to run for Governor. He hung on by the skin of his teeth after the last election, and the Repukes smell blood.

The bad news: Dems could lose at least 2 districts (1 and 8), a Senate seat (Tina Smith in a special election to a "hockey mom" wife of a well known hockey legend) and Walz (for Governor) is being painted as Pelosi-esque. Keith Ellison's problems are well known. Outside of the Twin Cities core and the Iron Range, Minnesota has gotten redder. (even in the Arrowhead region, where new mining jobs are taking precedence over the environment)

The good news: Klobuchar, and Trump keeps being himself and it is turning off nearly everyone short of die-hard Republicans. Democrats can't buy that sort of negative publicity!