Politics & Government

NH Dems Launch Anti-Scott Brown Ad Campaign

The ads refer to the former Senator as a "shadow lobbyist" and call on him to release a list of the "post-Senate clients" he has been working for.

The New Hampshire Democratic Party on Wednesday launched an ad campaign against former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown as rumors continue to swirl that he might run for Senate in New Hampshire.

The ads demand to know "which special interests are lining shadow lobbyist Scott Brown's pockets since he left the Senate." The NHDP is calling on Brown to release a list of the "post-Senate clients" he has been working for since losing to Elizabeth Warren in the 2012 Massachusetts Senate race. The ads reference Brown's work for the firm Nixon Peabody.

"Shadow lobbyist Scott Brown is so desperate to get back to Washington to represent Wall Street, big banks, and big oil that he doesn't care what state he runs from," New Hampshire Democratic Party Communications Director Harrell Kirstein said. "But we don't know just whose bidding he has been doing since he decided to cash in."

The ads will run on a number of New Hampshire websites through Brown's visit to New Hampshire next week, the NHDP said. Brown is scheduled to be the keynote speaker at the NHGOP's holiday fundraiser on Dec. 19 in Nashua.

In addition to the ads, the NHDP has posted an online petition on its website where residents can sign on to "Tell Scott Brown to Come Clean."

The New Hampshire Republican State Committee fired back at Democrats, saying the attack campaign against Brown is just an effort to distract from the recent negative press that Congresswoman Annie Kuster (D-NH) has been receiving.

"New Hampshire Democrats are desperate to distract from Congresswoman Annie Kuster’s embarrassing attempt to dodge questions about the attack in Benghazi and her career as a highly paid corporate lobbyist," NHGOP Chairman Jennifer Horn said. "For over twenty years, Congresswoman Kuster lobbied for big corporations and even for a foreign pharmaceutical company that manufactures “roofies” – an illegal drug that has been used to sexually assault women. Nobody can take the Democrats desperate attacks seriously given Congresswoman Annie Kuster's lobbying record."

NHGOP Executive Director Matt Mowers took aim at Sen. Jeanne Shaheen's husband, saying if Brown is a "shadow lobbyist" then Shaheen's husband Bill Shaheen is, too.

"According to his own website, Senator Shaheen's husband is a 'government relations and lobbying attorney' – which would make him a 'shadow lobbyist' according to the (NHDP)," Mowers said. "Nobody can take the Democrats seriously given the glaring hypocrisy of their desperate attacks."


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