A group that spent seven figures in advertising this year to neutralize the Republicans' healthcare repeal effort is now launching a six-figure ad buy to kill the GOP tax bill, which could also inflict a mortal wound on the Affordable Care Act. The ad campaign targets three swing-vote senators, who received a hero’s welcome at home for saving healthcare access in their states. Politico writes:
The left-leaning Save My Care group is focusing on Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, John McCain of Arizona and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska now that Senate GOP leaders have added a repeal of Obamacare's individual health insurance mandate to their tax bill. Next week's six-figure ad buy from Save My Care comes as liberal activists nationwide seize on the tax bill's Obamacare attack to mobilize their grass roots against the legislation.
The McCain-focused ad praises the Arizona Republican for having "been a hero for Arizona and the country" by opposing the GOP's Obamacare repeal bill in July, according to an advance copy shared with POLITICO, and the Alaska ad uses similar language to address Murkowski. The ad running in Collins' home state takes more direct aim at the GOP tax bill for using repeal of Obamacare's insurance mandate to help pay for tax cuts for individuals and corporations.
"President Trump and Republicans in Congress are ignoring bipartisan opposition and trying to sneak health care into their tax plan," the ad states. "Why? To pay for more tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations."
Framing the debate with constituents could be particularly helpful with someone like Sen. Murkowski, who is wavering on the vote. Mitch McConnell has muddled the debate with a promise to vote on a separate bipartisan measure that would help shore up the state marketplaces. The problem is that the provision in the GOP tax bill, which would repeal the ACA's individual mandate, would ultimately destabilize the markets anyway. So if a senator votes to pass a tax bill that repeals the individual mandate, it will effectively negate their vote in favor of shoring up the marketplaces.