Change Congress founder Lawrence Lessig -- with whom I work on campaign finance reform issues -- announced a new TV ad on Friday shaming "Blue Dog" leader Mike Ross on the public option.
In the ad, Keith Olbermann calls out Ross for his special-interest contributions -- and then recent poll numbers show that Ross is siding with those interests against his own constituents.
It's caused quite the buzz. Within hours, it was covered by NBC, ABC, Politico, Huffington Post, The Young Turks, Roll Call...and Rachel Maddow.
In addition to calling out Ross on the public option, this ad gets to the root of the problem: our corrupt campaign finance system, calling for Mike Ross to support fundamental reform.
Lessig's announcement of the ad -- and Rachel Maddow's clip -- are below the fold.
From Lessig's email to Change Congress members Friday:
Today, we are announcing our latest TV ad -- calling out the "Blue Dog Democrat" leader, Rep. Mike Ross (Arkansas), for his special-interest contributions from the health industry.
This ad includes a substantial cameo by Keith Olbermann, and for those of you who know my voice, you'll recognize a certain narrator.
Congressman Ross recently switched his position on the public health insurance option -- opposing it, despite the fact that Arkansas voters favor it 55% to 38%. He's also taken over $900,000 from special interests that oppose reform.
We obtained footage of Ross complaining about how much money he needs to raise to get elected -- so in the ad, we challenge him to support the bipartisan bill in Congress to replace special-interest-funded elections with citizen-funded elections.
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