Janelle Irwin Taylor
The Republican Party of Florida sent out two attack mailers against Jennifer Webb tying her to special interests that support policies conservatives oppose.
The mailers landed in House District 69 voters’ mailboxes this week.
Webb is running against Republican Ray Blacklidge for the seat currently held by Republican Kathleen Peters.
“Big business special interests often use government to bully the little guy and Jennifer Webb is a friend of the special interest,” one ad reads.
That ad claims Webb’s special interest donors would stop pay increases for teachers, enrich health care corporations at the expense of patients and consumers and raise taxes that would hurt small businesses.
The ad offers several citations for its claims. The ad references a 2011 lawsuit filed by the Florida teachers union alleging the state’s teacher merit pay law violated employee’s rights to collective bargaining.
The lawsuit was not aimed at denying teacher pay raises, rather sought to ensure pay raises were facilitated in a way the union deemed fair and equitable.
The GOP mailer references an Investopedia list of industries “that benefit from Obamacare” that includes insurance providers, hospital operators and the pharmaceutical industry. The list explains those industries, and others, benefit from the Affordable Care Act by increasing the pool of patients insured.
The Party backs its claim about Webb supporters pushing tax increases on an American Legislative Exchange Council write-up detailing how taxpayers in every state are bearing the cost of Medicaid expansion.
The American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, is a conservative think tank that drafts model legislation many state GOP lawmakers use as a basis for their own bills.
A second ad makes similar claims including forcing “us” to pay more for healthcare, pay for the health care of “able-bodied people who just don’t want to pay their fare share” and losing access to doctors and nurses for which patients already have a relationship.
“Middle class seniors and working families just can’t afford Jennifer Webb,” the flyer says.
The mailer references a CNN Business report entitled “Is Obamacare really affordable? Not for the middle class” and information from the conservative Heritage Foundation. Losing doctors and nurses is a common talking point among Republicans and references former President Barack Obama’s “lie of the year” that “if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor.”
The mailers come after a previous television ad aired also tying Webb to special interest funding. While Webb’s campaign and affiliated political committee have accepted contributions from groups and what some would define as special interests, the ad references a dollar amount that is not accurate.
All of the campaign materials and the television ad also leave out Blacklidge’s own funding. A majority of Blacklidge’s funding has come from the insurance industry. Blacklidge works in the industry.
Both candidates vowed during a forum earlier this month not to participate in negative campaigning. Asked for comment on the latest mailers, Blacklidge referred to a previous statement on Facebook publicly condemning third-party attacks.
Blacklidge declined, however, to request that the ad be removed from the airwaves. It’s now also available on YouTube.
