Attack-Ad Spending Floods Pro-Choice Candidates

By Sharon Johnson

WeNews senior correspondent

Friday, October 29, 2010

Pro-choice Sen. Boxer's re-election campaign in California has been hit by $4 million in attack ads in the past two months, making her race appear one of the most affected by the Supreme Court's January decision to lift campaign financing restrictions.

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Many Pro-Choice Dems Vulnerable

Other veteran pro-choice Democratic senators also fighting to hold office amid heavy attack-ad funding are Russ Feingold of Wisconsin and Patty Murray of Washington.

Many of the pro-choice Democrats in the House who were swept into office on Obama's coattails in 2008 are now also considered vulnerable.

In the 7th Congressional District of Michigan, Rep. Mark Schauer, a one-term pro-choice Democrat, is running a close race against Tim Walberg, an anti-choice Republican. In the 3rd District of Nevada, pro-choice Democrat Rep. Dina Titus, elected in 2008, faces anti-choice Republican Joe Heck.

If Republicans are successful, Congress may pass legislation limiting abortions under the health care overhaul or roll back protections for low-income women, minors and other vulnerable women.

The heavy spending against politicians who are pro-choice is spurring groups such as NARAL Pro-Choice America to boost their own campaign funding.

"The 2010 election cycle features some of the most extreme anti-choice candidates in recent memory," said Nancy Keenan, president of the group, when she announced on Oct.19 that the political action committee was giving an additional $70,000 to the general election campaigns of 13 candidates for the House and to Rep. Kendrick Meck, who is running for the Senate in Florida.

So far, she said, NARAL Pro-Choice America PAC has contributed $410,000 to 60 candidates in the House and Senate.

A Marist poll in September found that 48 percent of Republican men across the nation stated that they were very enthusiastic about voting, the most of any group. Only 28 percent of Democratic women said the same. Republican women and Democratic men fell in the middle.

Congress Control at Stake

To regain control of Congress, Republicans must win 10 seats in the Senate and 39 in the House.

Polls indicate men are more likely than women to vote in the Nov. 2 midterm elections and are focused on economic issues.

Although polls showed that 80 percent of Americans were opposed to changing campaign finance laws, the Supreme Court's recent 5-4 ruling in a case known as "Citizens United" permits corporations and individuals to give money anonymously to tax-exempt, organizations that are not required to reveal their donors for ads and other election-related materials.

The Citizens United decision also removed the ban on ads urging voters to vote for or against a specific candidate within 60 days of a general election. Studies indicate that efforts to influence voters near an election are highly effective: undecided voters support the challenger, unless there is some unforeseen, major event that favors the incumbent.

The Citizens United decision has given business groups a tremendous advantage in courting voters in close races in states such as California, where polls show 3 percent of voters are undecided.

A recent Wall Street Journal/NBC poll found that 75 percent of voters across the nation are concerned that outside groups only care about electing or defeating candidates based on their agendas. Moreover, 71 percent said they are worried that candidates who are helped by these groups will be beholden to them.