Dems turn focus to GOP Senate contenders as latest ‘BP Republicans’

Democrats added five top Senate targets to their list of so-called
“BP Republicans,” a group Democrats charge with favoring oil companies’
business interests.

Democrats accused four Republicans running
for Senate, along with one incumbent defending his seat, Sen. David
Vitter (R-La.), of “standing up for BP and other oil companies while
ignoring the needs of” workers in their states.

The latest
batch of GOP candidates marks a continuation in a campaign started first
after Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), the ranking member of the House Energy
and Commerce Committee, apologized to BP’s CEO earlier this summer
during hearings on the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Republicans dismissed the attack as a distraction.

“Silly
political tactics like this remind voters how far Democrats in
Washington have fallen in recent months. Instead of being able to run
on their own agenda, they’re forced to rely on increasingly desperate
attacks  because they can’t answer the No. 1 question on the minds
of voters: Where are the jobs?” asked Brian Walsh, the communications
director for Senate Republicans’ campaign committee.

Democrats
pounced on Barton for apologizing to BP for the way the U.S. had
treated the oil company and have sought to carry it throughout the
summer, though the company is now on the verge of officially sealing
shut the leak that had caused the worst oil spill in history.

The
Republicans include Wisconsin Senate candidate Ron Johnson, Washington
Senate candidate Dino Rossi, Pennsylvania Senate candidate Pat Toomey,
Indiana Senate candidate Dan Coats and Vitter. The five join Barton, a
pair of House lawmakers, as well as two other Senate candidates:
Sharron Angle (Nev.) and Rand Paul (Ky.).

The choice of which Republicans have been designated “BP Republicans”
is no accident; the Senate candidates targeted by the Democratic
National Committee-led project are all locked in hotly contested races.
Of the six Senate candidates included, four are running for
Democratic-held seats, while two are defending seats.

The
campaign urges those Republican candidates to “stop standing in the way
and start working with President Obama and Democrats” and “move our
country forward.”