OH-12: Danny O'Connor goes on the offense with GOP tax cuts, Medicare
In the race for Ohio’s 12th congressional district, one party is on the airwaves talking about the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act more than the other: The Democratic Party.
Since July 16, shortly after the start of early voting for the Aug. 7 special election, a Republican ad about the tax cut has been taken off the air, replaced by one that makes only a glancing mention of it. The party’s ads are focusing more on Democratic nominee Danny O’Connor — his résumé, his political affiliations and his donations — as Democrats fold the tax cut into their own messaging.
In one ad, “Deserve,” O’Connor refers to the tax cut as “a corporate tax giveaway that adds $2 trillion in debt,” and cites comments by the Republican nominee, Troy Balderson, that endorsed raising the eligibility age for Social Security and Medicare as a way to reduce the debt.
In another ad, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee uses B roll of Balderson at a corporate roundtable to make the same argument — by supporting new debt-financed tax cuts, Balderson will cut a path toward cuts to Social Security and Medicare.
The messaging in the Ohio district, which backed President Trump by 11 points in 2016, echoes what Democrats used to close their campaign in Pennsylvania’s old 18th District in March. At that time, the controversial tax cut — which got no Democratic votes — was experiencing a surge in popularity, with polls suggesting around 43 percent of Americans had backed the law.
Today, the same polling average has support for the law at 36 percent — better in swing districts but no longer seen as an issue that moves the needle. In Ohio, the law appeared in just one ad for Balderson, a spot paid for by the Congressional Leadership Fund, which promised that he would protect “our middle-class tax cut,” while “Nancy Pelosi called our tax cut crumbs.” O’Connor, like many Democrats in swing seats this year, has said that he would oppose Pelosi for speaker of the House, but Republicans have used his support from the national Democratic Party to tie him to Pelosi.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2018/07/23/in-ohio-less-gop-talk-about-tax-cuts-and-more-about-the-resistance/?utm_term=.21882175797c
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