Republican Jolly features mom, aunt in new ad

Florida Republican House candidate David Jolly launched a new ad Monday that attempts to counter Democratic attacks questioning his commitment to Social Security and features his mother and aunt.

{mosads}Meanwhile, national Republicans are hitting Democrat Alex Sink on two other prominent issues in the campaign — ObamaCare and spending — using her own words.

In his new ad, Jolly stands with his mother and aunt as they fix sandwiches in a kitchen.

“You’re looking at two of the most important people in my life. So protecting their Social Security means everything to me. It’s personal,” he says, with his hand on his mother’s shoulder.

“That’s why I’m fighting ObamaCare,” he adds, citing reports that the law cuts $716 billion from Medicare.

The healthcare law does reduce Medicare spending by that amount over 10 years, though that primarily comes from reductions in payments to insurers and hospitals, and not from cuts to seniors’ benefits.

Social Security and Medicare have become flashpoints in the Florida campaign as the two candidates battle it out for senior voters in the district, one of the oldest in the nation. Both have previously launched ads featuring seniors as surrogates, and sparring over which candidate would best protect the programs.

Democrats charge that Jolly once lobbied for a group that supports Social Security privatization, and suggest he himself has left the idea on the table.

But Jolly’s mom responded to that attack in his new ad.

“Now Sink and her friends are running ads to scare us, that even the media condemns,” she says.

“We stand with David,” his aunt says, and he adds: “And I stand with them and all of Pinellas.”

Jolly’s mother closes: “He learned that from Bill Young.”

The National Republican Congressional Committee’s new ad features clips of Sink saying she’s opposed to a balanced budget amendment and one in which she described the projected decline in the workforce due to ObamaCare as “kind of an exciting prospect.”

“David Jolly: Cut spending, more ObamaCare. Alex Sink: More spending, defend ObamaCare,” a narrator says at the end of the ad.

“She’s fighting for them, not us,” the narrator adds, over a shot of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and President Obama.

Sink and Jolly are locked in a tough fight in the final weeks of the special election to replace former Rep. Bill Young (R-Fla.). Most polls of the race have shown them tied or within single digits of each other, and outside groups from both parties have poured millions into the district on attacks in hopes of swaying the race.