reforma

The Republican Party of Minnesota and the Republican National Committee released a pair of ads on Tuesday attacking Reps. Tim Walz and Collin Peterson on health care reform. The spots spoof the ubiquitous television ads for prescription medications using a fake drug, “Reforma.” They’re not new, having been around since July, but this is the first time the ads are airing in Minnesota.

“Reforma, the Obama-Pelosi prescription for the government takeover of health care,” the ads say. “Recommended by more lobbyists than any other health reform.”

The ads then ask constituents of Walz and Peterson to urge them to oppose the health care reform bill currently being debated in Congress (which will be easy for Peterson, a Blue Dog Democrat who has already indicated he’ll oppose the bill).

The Minnesota DFL responded to the ads — and not without a little snark of their own.

“Given that the Republican Party has spent the past few decades in the pocket of the pharmaceutical companies, it’s no surprise that they were able to mimic the commercial style so well in piecing together and recycling these latest ads,” party chairman Brian Melendez said in a statement.

“Maybe if Republican leaders chose to participate in public discussions on health care instead of planting angry hecklers to disrupt them, they would know that Americans are suffering without adequate, affordable health care, and are desperate for reform right now,” Melendez continued.

The ads, which were originally released by the RNC in July, have been the subject of fact-checking by Media Matters. One bit of spin: the ads say lobbyists prefer the current health reform bill, but media reports recently revealed that health industry lobbyists have spent more than $10 million in efforts to kill the bill.

Walz ad:

Peterson ad: