Pro-Obama group slams GOP in new shutdown ad
October 7th, 2013
08:48 AM ET
9 years ago

Pro-Obama group slams GOP in new shutdown ad

Washington (CNN) - "Irresponsible," "reckless," and "destructive."

Those are the words used to describe tea party Republicans in a new TV commercial by Organizing for America, the non-profit political organization formed from President Barack Obama's re-election campaign that supports the president's agenda.

"The government shutdown is hurting veterans, seniors, and our kids. Now tea party Republicans are threatening an economic shutdown, refusing to pay our nation's bills,  endangering American jobs," says the narrator in the spot, which OFA says will run on national cable television this week.

While the partial government shutdown and impending debt ceiling deadline have been the focus of some campaign- or lawmaker-specific ads the past two weeks, this appears to be the first national commercial dedicated to the shutdown, which is now a week old, and the debt ceiling, which faces a major deadline in 10 days.

The ad points to what it considers a lack of leadership by House Republican leaders, ending with the narrator saying, "Tell them to stand up to the tea party," over a photograph of House Speaker John Boehner, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, and House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy.

National polling conducted just before and just after the start of the shutdown indicates that slightly more Americans blame congressional Republicans than the White House and Democrats in Congress for the partial closure of the federal government.

OFA, a non-profit organization, morphed at the beginning of the year from Obama's 2012 re-election campaign, and is led by some key players from the campaign team. The group went up with spots over the summer in support of the new health care law, which was the signature domestic achievement of Obama's first term, and which remains in the crosshairs of Republicans hoping to defund, delay, or dismantle it.

The spot was first reported by NBC News.

 CNN Political Editor Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report


Filed under: Government Shutdown • OFA
soundoff (15 Responses)
  1. Rudy NYC

    Republicans cannot tell the Tea Party "enough already" because there aren't any Republicans left. They've all been assimilated.

    October 7, 2013 09:01 am at 9:01 am |
  2. Data Driven

    @the ad,

    "Tell them to stand up to the tea party,"

    Grave mistake. Boehner and Cantor are part of the rebellion cabal. It's time people face up to that fact.

    October 7, 2013 09:15 am at 9:15 am |
  3. $$$$

    Whatsa matter? Do the whiny little sissies on the Democratic side get mad when someone plays hardball with them? Get used to it.

    October 7, 2013 09:17 am at 9:17 am |
  4. What's in that tea anyway?

    We still have Tea Trolls supporting this mess...really? You Tea Baggers have made your point, we americans agree to voting you out in 2014, that's guaranteed. Now pass the clean spending bill and raise the debt limit NOW

    October 7, 2013 09:18 am at 9:18 am |
  5. What's in that tea anyway?

    What sensible american would support these knuckle draggers? We are literally tanking the recovery we've worked so hard to achieve during the last 5 years. But of course the GOP/Tea Trolls never wanted the country to recover under Pres. Obama....so here's their best chance to succeed in destroying the country. Everybody knows this was the plan all along. What these idiots don't know, they've also succeeded in making sure vote them out in 2014

    October 7, 2013 09:24 am at 9:24 am |
  6. kirk

    We'll show you slightly more next November, fools, this polling is why the gop has dug in, they don't think its a big enough gap to merit putting the gov back to work, orthe debt ceiling, they simply don't care if we default, only gaining politically, and are we gonna pay for it, and so are they, bye fools

    October 7, 2013 09:28 am at 9:28 am |
  7. Gurgyl

    Do not worry these GOP thugs are all out in 2014. USA knows, so does the WORLD.

    October 7, 2013 09:29 am at 9:29 am |
  8. Jeff Brown in Jersey

    Cantor is even more disgusting than Boehner. Look at his greasy, little smile.

    October 7, 2013 09:30 am at 9:30 am |
  9. ghostwriter

    And coming to a midterm election near you.....commercials of Ted Cruz campaigning on shutting down the government by way of debt ceiling increase and budget issues. Mike Lee included.

    Republicans have yet to understand the power of YouTube. All of those speeches will be fodder for the upcoming elections. I used to say that the democrats were playing chess while republicans were playing checkers. I now think republicans are having trouble just coloring inside the lines.

    October 7, 2013 09:33 am at 9:33 am |
  10. Randy, San Francisco

    Republican Tea partiers are reckless, irresponsible, heartless bullies who are throwing a ideological temper tantrum. The Affordable Health Care Act is law like Social Security and Medicare. Will they target those two programs as well? Republican senior voters should give it careful thought since Tea Partiers have an ideological dislkie for anyone in the 47 percent receiving entitlements.

    October 7, 2013 09:35 am at 9:35 am |
  11. Wire Palladin, S. F.

    John. violate you oath to uphold the US Constitution, much?

    October 7, 2013 09:42 am at 9:42 am |
  12. tabeth

    Hey,
    Obama Care is a law that passed through democratic process...what is wrong with you?
    You can't stand to see a Black President doing something good for the country...what if it were clinton's Care
    Hillary Care, Bush Care....will you act the same way?

    October 7, 2013 09:50 am at 9:50 am |
  13. Data Driven

    @Gurgyl,

    "Do not worry these GOP thugs are all out in 2014."

    Not unless the "tea party" is outlawed as an insurrectionist movement. The constituents in their gerrymandered districts are cheering the "tea party" on.

    We will have to undergo a few Constitutional crises to stop the malignancy. Probably can't "outlaw" the "tea party", but we can outlaw their tactics. I expect Obama to unilaterally act to prevent the country from sliding into default and destruction. It will go to the Supremes. The Court, not wishing to rule in favor of its own defunding, will actually side with Obama. The cabal in the House will then vote to impeach the President, but they will fail. And, prevented by a Court ruling, the cabal can never threaten the United States like this again.

    At least one hopes.

    October 7, 2013 09:52 am at 9:52 am |
  14. Doug in NYC

    Speaker Flaccid, you were given 18 chances, count them! 18 chances to resolve this since April 23, 2013. Now 30 minutes before the shut down, you demand talks. You are an ineffective Speaker that has allowed RAFAEL Cruz to usurp your leadership. I demand your resignation, effective immediately, and let someone with a backbone take charge of the House before my 401K is wiped out, AGAIN!

    October 7, 2013 09:57 am at 9:57 am |
  15. Sniffit

    ""Tell them to stand up to the tea party,"

    Grave mistake. Boehner and Cantor are part of the rebellion cabal. It's time people face up to that fact."
    ==

    Indeed. The whole purpose in funding, organizing, radicalizing, encouraging and ginning up the Teatrolls as a neo-bircher religio-fascist tantrum was to provide the rest of the GOP with the "political cover" (i.e., excuse) needed for an exodus to the extreme right in order to obstruct and attempt to destroy Obama.

    October 7, 2013 09:57 am at 9:57 am |