New Mexico Senate candidate Allen Weh was the first candidate this cycle to feature radical Islamic terrorist group ISIS in a campaign spot back in August. Now others, including prominent Republicans, are following his lead as what many view as Obama’s failure in the so called war on terror continues to make headlines.
Back in August Weh told ABC “The whole message was very simple: failed leadership in Washington,” adding that ISIS was “absolutely going to be on the front of people’s minds” as the mid-term elections played out.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who’s fighting to hold on to his seat against Democratic challenger Allison Lundergan Grimes, also invoked the ISIS threat. In an ad released last week, the McConnell campaign ties Grimes to Obama’s no-strategy-yet gaffe.
The National Republican Congressional Committee also unveiled an ISIS-themed ad portraying incumbent Rep. Rick Nolan, D-Minn., as soft on terror.
In perhaps the most hard-hitting spot of all, one candidate seeks to tie his opponent not to ineffective policy — but to the terrorists themselves. David Perdue, a Republican battling Democrat Michelle Nunn for Georgia’s open U.S. Senate seat, recently dusted off an old ad linking Nunn to militants.
“In her campaign plan, Michelle Nunn admits she’s too liberal, and her foundation gave money to organizations linked to terrorists,” the ad says.