Ads target Cravaack, Bachmann over Medicare vote

Minnesota U.S. Reps. Michele Bachmann and Chip Cravaack are the targets of radio ads by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee over their votes to “end Medicare.” The ad buy is extremely small and is part of the DCCC’s “Drive to 25″ campaign, an effort launched in January with the aim of gaining back the 25 seats the Democrats need to win the House in 2012.

“This is a defining moment for House Republicans: they chose to end Medicare rather than end taxpayer giveaways for Big Oil or tax breaks for the ultra rich,” DCCC Chairman Steve Israel said in a statement announcing the ads. “We will go district by district to hold Republicans accountable for the wrong choice they made.”

The 15-second radio ad says, “Did you know Congressman Michele Bachmann voted to end Medicare forcing seniors to pay $12,500 for private health insurance, without guaranteed coverage? Tell Bachmann to keep her hands off our Medicare.”

A similar ad buy has been purchased to target Cravaack. The ads are part of “news-weather-traffic” radio, the DCCC says, and the group is supplementing them with web ads, phone banking and action alert emails in those districts.

As Ben Smith at Politico notes, the ad buys are very small and for Cravaack’s district amount to $160.

The DCCC says that Republicans who voted for Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget voted to end Medicare. The Ryan budget creates a voucher system for seniors to go out on the private market to purchase insurance, an idea that virtually all experts have said will cost seniors more money. The plan would not affect seniors currently on Medicare.

The DCCC released this web ad along with the radio ads: