A super PAC supporting Thom Tillis’ bid for U.S. Senate is airing a new television commercial that subtly shifts his position on the federal health care law.
The latest American Crossroads ad calls Tillis “a fiscal conservative with the guts to repeal and replace Obamacare.” (See ad below.)
The original spot from the Karl Rove-backed group’s – which is spending $1.1 million in April to boost the House speaker’s contested primary race – described his stance this way: “the conservative guts to replace Obamacare with honest health care reforms.”
The rephrasing comes as Tillis faces criticism from his Republican rivals, particularly tea party candidate Greg Brannon, who suggest he is soft on the issue.
It appears to respond to the Brannon’s campaign’s criticism of the initial ad. In a statement at the time, the Brannon campaign noted the Crossroads ad made “no mention of repealing Obamacare, which would take real guts, and surprisingly it even references the same radio interview in which Thom says Obamacare is a great idea that can’t be paid for.”
Just like the first one, the new Crossroads ad is airing on broadcast and cable stations in the Charlotte and Raleigh areas – two expensive markets where Tillis’ campaign is not airing broadcast TV ads.
The remaining content is similar: hitting Democrat Kay Hagan and President Barack Obama for the “lie of the year” on health care before pivoting positively to Tillis. Another theme dropped: voter ID, which was mentioned in the first but not the second spot.
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