NRCC attacks four Democrats with slate of television ads

{mosads}The ads attack incumbent Reps. Jim Matheson (Utah) and Mike McIntyre (N.C.), as well as challengers Dan Maffei in New York and Gary McDowell in Michigan. McIntyre and McDowell are hit for what the ads frame as their hostility to Medicare, while Maffei and Matheson are tied to the stimulus and the debt limit, and slammed for backing Obama.

The ads are an effort to keep the focus in more local races on the economy and Medicare, the two issues that are most likely to make an impact this fall. Americans have cited the economy as the most important issue this election cycle, and with the choice of Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) as Mitt Romney’s running mate on the GOP ticket, the Ryan budget has come back into the spotlight — and with it, a debate over Medicare.

Democrats released no comparable television ads on Monday, but they did begin a slate of robocalls linking Republicans locked in tough election battles to Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) and his controversial comments on rape.