DNC begins targeted counteroffensive on stimulus

The Democrats are fighting back on the GOP’s stimulus criticism.

The majority party is no longer content just to let the stimulus debate play out in the real world. With an eye toward 2010, it’s now mounting a public relations offensive to assure voters that the package is working.

In the last two days, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) has launched a cable ad buy against Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and a web ad against House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) for their criticism of the stimulus.

And the DNC isn’t stopping at leadership. It has also taken aim at some new Republican candidates who have criticized the package as they began their campaigns. In releases dubbed “Failure to Launch,” the DNC attacked former Ohio state Sen. Steve Stivers and Florida state Rep. Dorothy Hukill within a day of them entering the race.

In each case, the party is pointing to specific district projects benefiting from the stimulus – an airport and a college in Hukill’s and renovation and public projects in Stivers’s – in an effort to shape the debate in a key House race.

Stivers is running in a rematch race against Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy (D-Ohio), and Hukill is one of a few GOPers running against freshman Rep. Suzanne Kosmas (D-Fla.). Both are top targets for Republicans.

The first salvos are relatively small, as the McConnell ad buy is only five figures, but they are part of a larger campaign that will play out in races around the country. So any Republicans who come out of the gate attacking the stimulus should be prepared to have the DNC pulling on the local media’s ears.

It’s interesting that the Democrats are seemingly eager to take ownership of the stimulus package now. Perhaps they realize that they own it no matter what, and they might as well embrace it, mount a defense and hope for the best.

Welcome to the Stimulus Election.