In the first television ad of the Georgia Senate race, U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey is making quite a promise to voters — he’ll repeal health care reform or he’ll “go home” after one term.
Gingrey, an OB-GYN, is in a crowded GOP primary to succeed retiring Sen. Saxby Chambliss, and his volley is the first and most aggressive to use frustration with the health care law as leverage on the airwaves.
“As a doctor, I took an oath to do no harm. And Obamacare is so harmful, I voted to repeal or defund it over 40 times, but our efforts die in the Senate,” says Gingrey, wearing a white coat and stethoscope, talking to camera from his medical office.
“I’ll help repeal Obamacare in my first term, because you deserve a senator who gets the job done or gets out of the way,” says Gingrey. “Repeal or go home — that’s my pledge to you.”
Gingrey is also launching a website to accompany his promise: repealorgohome.com. According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, the six-figure ad buy will run for the next 10 days in the Atlanta, Macon, Columbus and Augusta media markets.
Gingrey is just one of several Republicans in the crowded open primary, including Rep. Paul Broun, Rep. Jack Kingston, former Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel and businessman David Perdue. Handel has been running radio ads in Broun’s, Kingston’s and Gingrey’s congressional districts hitting them on subsidies they could receive to enroll in the exchanges.
Hoping to capitalize on a divisive primary, Democrats are bullish about the chances of former non-profit executive Michelle Nunn, the daughter of former Sen. Sam Nunn. The Democrat’s strong fundraising and campaign so far, building on her family name and past working with a volunteer organization associated with former President George H.W. Bush has left many Republicans privately worried.
Jessica Taylor