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TV ad targets Brown on jobs

E-mail|Link|Comments () February 22, 2010 02:17 PM

By Matt Viser, Globe Staff

A Washington-based advocacy group supporting Democratic causes is taking out TV ads in Massachusetts, attempting to encourage US Senator Scott Brown to support a jobs package that is expected to come up today.

Americans United for Change took out the 30-second spot, which will air CNN, MSNBC, and Fox channels in Boston today and tomorrow. The ad buy is relatively low, just over $13,000, but encourages residents to call him and “Tell him: Keep your promise to stand with us and create jobs for Massachusetts.”

The US Senate today is scheduled to take a procedural vote on whether to continue debate on a jobs bill that was devised by majority leader Harry Reid. The $15 billion bill is much less ambitious than a jobs bill that the House approved in December.

Reid has been trying to convince several Republicans, including Brown, to vote for the bill and the issue could prove to be a test for the new political dynamics in the Senate, which shifted after Brown won the Massachusetts special election last month and gave the Republicans a 41st vote.

The Democrats need at least two Republicans today if they want to overcome a filibuster, because one Democrat, US Senator Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey, will be out after learning last week that he is suffering from lymphoma and has reportedly been undergoing chemotherapy.

“Today, Sen. Brown will have his chance to cast an important vote on legislation that would put Americans back to work,” Tom McMahon, the acting executive director of Americans United for Change, the group that took out the ad. “We know that the Republican leadership will do everything in its power to kill this bill and has been strategizing with lobbyists behind closed doors to make this happen. Will Sen. Brown buck his GOP leaders that have been huddling with lobbyists to block the bill or will he show his independence and vote to put the people of Massachusetts back to work?”