Sen. Mark Begich (D-AK)
Karl Rove's Crossroads GPS is targeting Alaska Sen. Mark Begich with
an ad attacking him over the problems at the Department of Veterans Affairs:
"A national disgrace. Veterans died waiting for care that never came. Senator Mark Begich sits on the Veterans Affairs Committee. His response? If there's a problem, they need to fix it. If there's a problem?" says the narrator in the spot, which is the first major ad to focus on the scandal.
"Four years ago, the VA's inspector general failed the Anchorage VA office in thirteen of fourteen areas. Now some Senators are blocking bipartisan legislation to shake up the VA and enforce accountability. Tell Senator Begich: when veterans are dying, it IS a problem," the narrator adds.
Of course,
some senators (the Republican ones)
filibustered a bill funding improved health care for veterans. But this ad is not actually about the VA. It's about the
fact that:
Two weeks ago Crossroads reserved more than $5 million in ad time in Alaska from September 8 through October 26.
Combine that with $450,000 being spent on running the current ad for a week, and you basically have an announcement that Crossroads will be running ads attacking Begich on any and every story in the news between now and November. Crossroads GPS is a non-profit group, allegedly, but it's really a Karl Rove-founded partisan organization that's about beating Mark Begich. Problems at the VA are just another opportunity for them.