'Conservative War Chest' Targets Pryor, Gang of 5

A conservative Super PAC has launched its 2014 campaign with a blistering ad accusing Senator Mark Pryor of being a "stand-in for a national power grab by the Gang of Five."

The two-term Democrat is in a tough battle with Republican U.S. Congressman Tom Cotton for the Senate seat from Arkansas.

The ad is paid for by the Conservative War Chest (CWC), which won plaudits last year from talk show host Rush Limbaugh and the Wall Street Journal's columnist Kim Strassel for "cracking the Democratic code" in key political races.

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"The Democrats were able in 2010 and 2012 to hold on to control of the U.S. Senate by pouring in millions in smear attacks against Republican candidates," CWC spokesman Mike Flynn said. "Our ads give voters a narrative, a context in which to understand these attacks. The message is simple: These smears are being run to hide the voting record and real views of candidates like Pryor."

The new ad links Pryor to five bases of support: The extremist liberal leadership of the Democratic Party; the elite media; smear groups financed by left-wing billionaires; Wall Street liberals; Hollywood partisans.

"Pryor is loyal not to constituents but to Washington liberals," the ad asserts. "The Gang of Five is smearing Republicans to protect faithful allies in the U.S. Senate like Mark Pryor."

The ad castigates Pryor and his supporters' stance on military readiness, Obamacare, religious freedom, activist judges, abortion, traditional marriage, and First Amendment rights, and urges listeners to "tell the Pryor puppeteers: This is Arkansas, and we won't let you Detroit America with taxes and debt and no jobs."

Said Flynn: "Voters need to know Pryor's record is incredibly left wing right across the board. So we don't stick to just one or two issues. Just like Ronald Reagan, we draw the liberal versus conservative contrast on economic, social, and national security issues."

The CWC ad begins running on Tuesday, Sept. 2. A 60-second spot and a groundbreaking 2-minute commercial have been scheduled to run on the 10 p.m. news and to blanket the Sunday morning political shows in the Little Rock and Fort Smith media markets.

The Arkansas media buy is the first phase in the CWC's plan to aggressively engage voters in this year's midterm election, the group said in a release.

"Arkansas is just the first state," said Flynn. "We plan to be active in 14 to 15 states this year. This is just the beginning of our conversation with voters and our plan to educate them about puppet senators like Mark Pryor."