Danny McAuliffe
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jeff Greene is continuing his television outreach blitz a month away from the primary with two new ads addressing the Parkland shooting and the fate of women’s rights amid Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Hitting two heavy concerns of Democrats — gun control and reproductive health care — Greene’s latest ads attack a mix of federal and state issues and resemble a continuation bet for his all-out assault on his part-time Palm Beach neighbor, President Donald Trump.
Backed by a hefty $3.2 million from Greene’s campaign, the two ads follow the Palm Beach billionaire’s steady pouring of cash into his campaign account. He’s amassed and spent — by way of personal loans and personal checks — more than $10 million since entering the race in June.
Addressing gun control, Greene’s ad titled “Parkland” features Marjory Stoneman Douglas student Sarah Brodsky, who at one point recalls, “I didn’t think that at 16 I’d be going to 6 funerals,” a reference to the 17 students and faculty killed during the Feb. 14 shooting at the Parkland high school.
In the same ad, a narrator says, “Jeff Greene will stand up to Florida’s children by standing up to Trump and the NRA.”
In closing, Brodsky’s father says, “The NRA buys politicians in Florida. They can’t buy Jeff.”
That ad will begin airing Thursday, and follows Greene’s personal war with National Rifle Association Florida lobbyist Marion Hammer sparked this week by a father that claims “the NRA turns our kids into targets.”
In retaliation to those mailers, Hammer told the Tampa Bay Times afterward that Greene is “bankrupt of ideas and he has to resort to these dumb ideas to try and get attention for himself and his campaign.”
In the other ad titled “For Women,” Greene appears saying, “With his pick for the Supreme Court, Trump has declared war on the women in the state of Florida.
“But Trump’s got a big problem,” Greene continues. “Me.”
Greene then promises to ensure Florida is a “safe haven for women,” protect “right to choose” and “fully fund planned parenthood.” The ad closes with a series of women saying, “For women.”
That ad also will begin airing Thursday.
