Democrat Michelle Nunn is out with a new ad today trying to cast herself again as a centrist who is beyond party labels, this time on energy. She goes after Democrats for not doing enough to move along the Keystone XL oil pipeline, and Republicans for not backing renewable energy.
It appears Nunn is not expecting big money from Tom Steyer, the liberal anti-Keystone billionaire who has vowed to spend $100 million on the midterms.
Update 3:15 p.m.: A friendly Republican points out that Nunn was among the beneficiaries of a fundraiser this year hosted by Susie Thompkins Buell, a San Francisco philanthropist who refused to donate to President Barack Obama in 2012 because he did not reject Keystone outright.
Here's the ad script, all spoken by Nunn:
"But too many Democrats play politics by dragging their feet on the Keystone Pipeline, while Republicans block renewable energy initiatives that would reduce our long-term dependence on fossil fuels.
"I'm Michelle Nunn. I approve this message because it's time to work together to do what's best for our country."
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Following Tuesday's news that the National Republican Senatorial Committee is blasting Nunn for an immigration bill supported by 14 of its own Republican senators, comes this reality check that no party has a monopoly on hypocrisy.
The Washington Post has an insightful piece about how party leaders face ever more difficult re-election fights considering their lightning rod status. It includes this tidbit about Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's 2008 re-election and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee:
By 2008, as the wars and imploding economy sank the public view of Republicans, Democrats had the rare chance to claim 60 seats, a filibuster-proof majority, and waged an aggressive attack on McConnell. It included Democratic ads that criticized McConnell's role in negotiating a $700 billion bailout of Wall Street — the same legislation that Reid and Sen. Charles E. Schumer (N.Y.), chairman of the Democratic campaign arm, had negotiated with McConnell.
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