Tough call on who is being more cynical this week.
On the one hand, we have Blanche Lincoln. A couple weeks ago, she released an ad explicitly touting her independence for her party, and her opposition to several Obama administration proposals, including TARP, the auto bailout, the House energy bill:
But this week, she released an ad touting how she has "she never abandoned our president," which is the exact opposite of her message on being independent from her party. The incredibly cynical difference is that the second ad, which touted how she "never abandoned our President," aired on predominantly African-American radio stations, while the first ran statewide.
Not to be outdone for crass cynicism, after filibustering an extension of unemployment benefits, Senate Republicans are looking to attack Democrats for not passing an extension of unemployment benefits:
A GOP leadership aide said that while "unemployment and welfare have traditionally been Democratic issues," Republicans believe the inability of Democrats to pass an extension last week can play to their favor.(...)
McConnell's office has provided GOP lawmakers with talking points emphasizing the fact that House Democrats killed a one-week, fully paid-for extension of the unemployment program, and that almost the entire Democratic Conference voted to adjourn for the spring recess while Senate Republicans all voted to stay in session.
Say what you want about Democrats adjourning without fighting the Republican filibuster. However, the unemployment extension was not passed because it lacked the votes, but because Republicans filibustered it.
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