NRCC Targets 13 House Democrats on Climate Vote

The National Republican Congressional Committee announced Wednesday that it is targeting 13 House Democrats this recess with weeklong radio ads and automated calls for their votes on last week’s energy bill.

The climate change legislation barely passed the House, 219-212, on Friday, with 44 Democrats voting against it. The NRCC is targeting several Democrats who voted for the bill: Reps. Rick Boucher (Va.), Vic Snyder (Ark.), Ike Skelton (Mo.), Baron Hill (Ind.), Harry Teague (N.M.) Bruce Braley (Iowa), Bart Gordon (Tenn.), Betsy Markey (Colo.), Zack Space (Ohio), Alan Grayson (Fla.), Debbie Halvorson (Ill.) and Mary Jo Kilroy (Ohio). Many are potentially vulnerable in 2010.

The committee has also zeroed in on Rep. Tom Perriello (Va.) and is airing a television ad in the freshman’s district for his vote on what Republicans are calling a “national energy tax.” The spot is also one of the first of the cycle to evoke President Barack Obama. It opens with footage of Obama talking about a cap-and-trade system while a narrator says the bill could lead to “skyrocketing” energy costs.

“It will destroy jobs and cost middle-class families $1,800 a year every time you turn on a switch,” the announcer says in the ad. “And Tom Perriello is voting with Obama and [Speaker] Nancy Pelosi over and over. Call Perriello. Tell him he was wrong to vote for the Pelosi energy tax.”
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