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A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center

When Democrats Attack

Gauging by the attack ads flowing from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the party’s House contenders are running against Exxon, Pfizer and Bush. The ads tie Republican House candidates to unpopular industries and an unpopular President. Some of these ads are exaggerations.

Republican Mudslinging On An Industrial Scale

Both political parties are functioning in the 2006 House races as factories for attack ads, but the National Republican Campaign Committee’s work stands out this year for the sheer volume of assaults on the personal character of Democratic House challengers.

Tired Old Trust Fund Bunk

In half a dozen ads, Democrats accuse a number of GOP House incumbents of voting repeatedly to “raid the Social Security Trust Fund.” That line was bunk when Republicans used it against Democratic candidates in the past, and it’s bunk now.

Hurting the Troops?

Well over a dozen Democratic ads claim incumbent GOP lawmakers voted against benefits and funding for the nation’s military.

A ‘Drug Deal’ Gone Bad

The DCCC’s evidence that Florida Republican Clay Shaw took part in a “drug deal” when he voted for the Medicare Prescription Drug Plan is flimsy at best.