CA-Sen: United States Chamber of Commerce Launches Barbara Boxer Attack Ads on Jobs and Water

Barbara Boxer’s record is dismal and these ads will bite her.

The nation’s largest business organization launched a multimillion-dollar advertising attack in California on Wednesday night on U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, part of a nationwide effort targeting vulnerable Democrats.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce began running ads in San Diego, Bakersfield, Fresno and Sacramento, where Boxer’s Republican rival Carly Fiorina has shown strength. The first round of ads castigates Boxer’s record on jobs and the environment.

The Chamber would not say exactly how much it plans to spend on the race. But the ads, which will be combined with a major push to identify and contact business-friendly voters, reflect the aggressive political strategy that the nonprofit business lobbying group will employ this year in an effort to stymie what it considers the anti-business thrust of the Obama administration.

The chamber has set aside about $75 million for political spending nationwide this year. It has already run ads against Democrats in Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio and plans to begin ads in Florida soon.

The California ad buy represents a first in this Senate race for the national and state Chamber of Commerce. The chamber has not been active in U.S. Senate races in California in the past because the state was seen as heavily Democratic. But Boxer faces one of the tightest reelection races of her career. On Wednesday, a CNN/Time Magazine/Opinion Research Corp. survey showed Boxer holding a 48% to 44% margin over Fiorina, within the margin of error.

Here is the Central Valley version of the ad:

Will these ads boost Carly Fiorina?

Probably and augments Fiorina’s own advertising resources.

With the Senate race in dead heat, the chamber’s ad campaign could provide a substantial boost to Fiorina, who has trailed Boxer in fundraising. After the six-week reporting period that ended June 30, Boxer had nearly 12 times more cash on hand than Fiorina, who had approximately $1 million. Boxer, who did not have any significant primary opposition, had spent $5.8 million by the end of June to Fiorina’s $9.7 million. Neither candidate has aired television ads during the general election phase of the campaign.

“Barbara Boxer has been hostile to the business community,” said Bill Miller, the U.S. chamber’s political director. “Our decision shows that we believe she is vulnerable and that there is a viable alternative who will advocate on behalf of those who create jobs.”

The first 30-second spot alleged that Boxer’s decisions on water policy saved a small fish species at the expense of the Central Valley economy.

“Without water, the Central Valley can’t work,” says a voice-over on the ad, citing Boxer’s support of legislation that “voted to cut water to the Central Valley, killing jobs and driving unemployment as high as 40%.”

Fiorina has accused Boxer of allying herself with “extreme environmentalists” while praising California’s senior senator, Democrat Diane Feinstein, who drafted but then backed away from legislation that would have eased some endangered species protections to send more water to San Joaquin Valley farms.

Neither candidate has starting airing their own ads. But, this won’t last long.