GOP slams Lincoln with Kerry comparison

Republicans are going aggressively after one of the key moderate Democrats who could decide the health care bill's fate in the Senate -- accusing Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas with an attempted "flip-flop" worthy of John F. Kerry.

A web video from the Republican National Committee slams Lincoln for a reported plan to vote for the bill to reach the Senate floor before voting against passage of the bill. Her vote could be crucial as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid tries to round up 60 votes to overcome a GOP filibuster.

It repeatedly shows Kerry saying during one of his worst moments of his 2004 presidential campaign, “I actually did vote for the $87 billion, before I voted against it.”

He was explaining why he voted for an earlier version of an Iraq war appropriation because it would have repealed many of President George W. Bush's tax cuts, before opposing the spending because he would not have gone to war without more international support. But Republicans used the clip to portray him as wishy-washy.

"Democrat leaders want Senator Blanche Lincoln to use the same tactic,” the announcer says in the web video. "To pass President Obama’s government-run health care experiment with a vote to move a bill forward with tax increases, cuts to Medicare, and rising premiums. Then, once it comes up for a final vote, they will allow her to vote against it.”

“But any vote to move the bill forward,” the announcer continues. “is a vote for Obama’s government-run health care experiment. They want Senator Lincoln to tell voters in Arkansas: ‘I voted for government-run health care for my party boss, before I voted against it to save my job.’ Americans don’t respect politicians who try to have it both ways. They want to know exactly where their leaders stand. Senator Lincoln, tell Harry Reid Arkansans know a flip-flopper when they see one.”