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Health Reform Ads Already Turn Nasty

Dems' Nelson blasts liberal TV spot, warns tone will kill legislation

By Wesley Oliver, Newser Staff

Posted Aug 1, 2009 2:25 PM CDT

(Newser) – Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson is firing back against two liberal groups who are accusing him of partnering with insurance companies to “lead the charge to delay health reform” in a new TV ad, the Hill reports. “If this is an indication of the politics going into August, then health care reform may be dead by the end of August,” the Nebraska senator’s spokesman warned in a statement.

In the ad, Democracy for America—founded by Howard Dean—and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee accuse Nelson of accepting $2 million from insurance companies and stalling on health care reform. PCCC’s founder is standing behind the ad, telling the Huffington Post that if Nelson backs his spokesman’s statement, “he just proved himself a fundamentally corrupt and out-of-touch politician who feels perfectly comfortable lying to his constituents and going to bat for private insurers.”

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Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) is hitting back hard at a TV ad campaign that accuses him of acting on behalf of insurance companies. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) is hitting back hard at a TV ad campaign that accuses him of acting on behalf of insurance companies. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

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Sen. Ben Nelson is firing back against the two liberal groups behind this ad. (BoldProgressives)

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Health Reform Ads Already Turn Nasty