Sen. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., has launched a television ad comparing her opponent, Democrat Mark Kelly, to Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Politico is reporting.
The 30-second ad is called "Bernie Bro."
It starts off with a narrator saying: "First Mark Kelly said he would have voted to overturn the election and remove [President Donald] Trump from office. Now Kelly says he would support Bernie Sanders."
The ad focuses on Sanders' support for tax increases and for providing government-funded health insurance to undocumented immigrants.
It closes with the narrator saying: "Kelly and Sanders — too liberal for Arizona."
Politico noted that Kelly, a retired astronaut, and his wife — former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, an Arizona Democrat who was injured in a 2011 assassination attempt — are popular in the state.
However, Politico reported that Republicans said that linking Kelly to Sanders can diminish his standing.
McSally is running in a traditionally Republican state, but one that is regarded as competitive. Politico said she has derided Kelly in the past as the "51st vote for all of Bernie's wildest Soviet-style fantasies."
And she is not alone. Some Republicans in other states are linking their Democratic Party rivals to Sanders as well, according to Politico.
But Sanders supporters say Republicans will end up finding a way to demonize whoever wins the Democratic Party's presidential nomination.
Meanwhile, the potential of Sanders leading the Democrats' ticket in November has many warning that the self-declared socialist's presidential candidacy could be devastating to the party's chances of controlling the Senate and holding the House.
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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