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Bruning Targets Kerrey in New Ad

By Sean Sullivan // March 2, 2012 | 10:36 a.m.

Republican Attorney General Jon Bruning is welcoming former Democratic Sen. Bob Kerrey to the Nebraska Senate race with a five-figure ad buy that hits Kerrey over health care, spending and his time spent living in New York City.

"Kerrey says Obamacare didn't go far enough. Bruning is leading the fight to overturn it," says the narrator of the commercial.

Republicans are already criticizing Kerrey for a time in 2009 when he remarked, "I really don't get how the public option got demonized so badly, and why it became so scary."

The Bruning campaign says the size of the ad buy is $70,000.

Bruning is the frontrunner in the GOP primary but has to worry about state Treasurer Don Stenberg. Stenberg is backed by Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., and his Senate Conservatives Fund PAC.

There are three main takeaways from Bruning's ad. First, the attacks are a preview of the refrain we'll be hearing from Republicans many times this year in Nebraska: On the issues of spending and health care, Kerrey is too far to the left.

Second, by launching a comparison ad, Bruning is casting the race as a matchup between himself and Kerrey, further pushing the narrative that he is the frontrunner in the Republican primary. Finally, it confirms something that's already clear: Kerrey's a real threat in the race. You don't hit just anyone with an ad 48 hours after they jump into a campaign. Bruning's buy is relatively small, but his early engagement will turn a few heads in the state.