It seems that Pete Domenici and Heather Wilson are now both in trouble from both sides of the political spectrum. While the two toers-of-the-GOP-party-line generally don't expect support from the progressive Dems, when the hawkish Republicans go after them... then they know they're in trouble.
And this group is spending some serious cash on the two New Mexico Republicans. According to a list e-mailed from Americans United for Change, reprinted at Daily Kos, the group is spending over $250,000 on these ads targeting Wilson and Domenici. This is the fourth-most being spent in a single area, remarkable considering two of the other targets are in Philadelphia, PA and Washington DC -- much more expensive media markets. This group really is going after Domenici and Wilson.
I won't get into the problems with the right-wing ad itself -- I'll let Americans United for Change do that, in a video you can see below the fold, but instead discuss its effects on Domenici and Wilson.
The funny thing about the attack from a group of Bush supporters is it is based on, for Domenici and Wilson at least, what they have said in the press. Not on what they have actually done, but what they've said. They've talked about a new direction in Iraq, they've publicly tried to soften their position on Iraq... but then their actions, their votes, betray them.
Take a look at Domenici on "War and Peace". Every single time he has voted on a bill concerning the war in Iraq, he has gone with the hawkish "stay the course" message. He even was among the majority who voted to protect the Halliburtons of the world by voting "NO on investigating contract awards in Iraq & Afghanistan." In other words, Domenici was not only for no-bid contracts, he was also for not investigating the waste of money afterwards. Not exactly fiscally conservative, is he?
It's no surprise to anyone with any knowledge of Domenici's past that he is so hawkish. But it is a bit ironic that the right-wing group Freedom's Watch (whose website is straight out of the Stephen Colbert collection) will be pressuring Domenici from the right.
At Daily Kos, Kos himself puts it very well:
[A]nytime Republicans want to spend $15 million attacking "pressuring" their own, all the while keeping Iraq prominently in the public consciousness, is a time to celebrate. And what's best, they're putting pressure on Republicans that might waver because of electoral demands. In other words -- making it harder for those endangered Republicans to adjust to public opinion in their districts.
Anything that can be said about Domenici goes double for Wilson. Wilson has for years danced the line of appearing to be a moderate for the sake of reelection in a swing district while voting the party line to keep the cash to fund her elections coming in. While her people may try to point this out as an example that she is in the middle and gets flack from both sides, this is simply not true.
Like Domenici, Wilson is getting trouble from the anti-war majority because she consistently votes to extend the war. She gets criticism from the pro-war minority because she says she is against the war -- not true at all, but it's out there, and they would rather deal with appearances than actions.
In a district such as Wilson's, we'll have to see if the ads by Freedom's Watch backfire.
