Tea party candidate Greg Brannon has filmed a TV commercial for his primary race against Republican rival Thom Tillis in North Carolina — and now he's looking for a "money bomb" so he can pay to run the ad, the
Charlotte Observer reports.
Brannon, a obstetrician and father of seven, is hoping in November to capture the seat of embattled Democratic incumbent Sen. Kay Hagan, who is facing a tough race against either Brannon or Tillis.
Brannon was leading Hagan in a recent
Rasmussen poll by 43 percent to 39 percent. But Tillis, Republican speaker of the state House of Representatives, is ahead of Hagan by an even bigger margin, 47 percent to 40 percent.
Brannon is pushing to turn things around with the minute-long TV ad, in which he portrays himself as a family man of deep faith while aligning himself with conservatives Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky, Mike Lee of Utah, and Ted Cruz of Texas.
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The problem is that Tillis has much deeper fundraising pockets than Brannon, and so the tea party activist has asked supporters to send donations by Feb. 17 to pay for the commercial time.
"Our goal is to raise $150,000 by midnight on President's Day to help purchase the air time," Brannon said.
In an email to his supporters, he added, "As I told you, I can't compete dollar for dollar with my opponent on TV ads. After all, [Tillis has] D.C. insiders bankrolling his campaign.
"But if I can go ahead and purchase TV air time right now, I can run my ads on shows like 'The O'Reilly Factor' and 'Hannity,' where I can best reach Republican voters before the May 6 primary. That's why I hope you'll make a contribution to my Ad Blitz Money Bomb immediately."
Hagan's approval
ratings have plunged since she cast the deciding vote
for Obamacare, while her race is seen as vital if the Democrats want to hang on to a majority in the Senate.
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