American Medical Association Political Action Committee Purchases Advertisements for ‘Pro-Medicine’ Candidates
The American Medical Association Political Action Committee on Tuesday announced the purchase of independent expenditure advertisements for Senate candidate Rep. Dave Vitter (R-La.), whom the group supports because of his "pro-medicine" position, CongressDaily reports. In the 30-second television ad, AMPAC addresses the role that Vitter played in Medicare reform, as well as his efforts to help small businesses provide health insurance to employees and make permanent tax cuts supported by President Bush. "Our top issue is medical liability reform. We're looking for opportunities to help candidates who support that issue," an AMPAC spokesperson said.
AMPAC decides whether to support candidates based on "whether there is a clear distinction between the candidates on health issues" and the "competitiveness of the race," CongressDaily reports. AMPAC this year has purchased independent expenditure ads for three other Senate candidates -- Rep. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), Rep. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) -- and three House candidates -- Melissa Brown (R) in Pennsylvania, Tom Price (R) in Georgia and Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D-N.D.). Brown and Price are both physicians.
According to the AMPAC spokesperson, some of the ads have focused on issues other than health care because the group seeks to "help the candidates in the best way we can" based on the results of polls. AMPAC spent about $285,000 on independent expenditure ads between Oct. 1 and Oct. 18, about $400,880 between Oct. 19 and 24 and about $428,396 before Oct. 13 (Byrd, CongressDaily, 10/28).