Mays campaign goes on the air

Mark Mays5th Congressional District Democratic nominee Mark Mays went on the air today with his first set of radio advertisements of the campaign. The two ads will run for a week on Spokane radio stations KQNT, KEYF, KJRB, KIXZ, and KISC, and the campaign hopes to expand the buy later in August. Both ads look to introduce Mays to voters and target the voting record and campaign statements of incumbent Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Colville).

"While we think that Cathy is a good and decent person, we believe that her votes in Congress are detrimental to the voters and the residents of the 5th Congressional District in Washington State," Mays said in a press release announcing the advertisements.  "The policies of the Bush Economy are eliminating what was the middle class in America, and the divide between the haves and the have nots has grown even larger during her watch.  Cathy has voted with President Bush 96% of the time."

One spot, called "President's Policies" blames high gas prices, a devalued currency and plummeting housing prices on the Bush economy while "Cathy has actively supported the president's policies 96 percent of the time." It also hits her on her support of the civil liberty-stripping PATRIOT Act.

The second ad, called "Two Cathys", suggests that Rep. McMorris Rodgers acts differently in Washington, D.C than she does in Eastern Washington, especially on matters of Social Security and Medicare.

"She's a professional politician, make no mistake," Mays says to describe the incumbent's voting record. "And I tell you, some of those are wicked."

Mays also suggests that McMorris Rodgers hypocritically uses government-approved constituency mailers to project her campaign themes, at a cost of almost $750,000. It echoes a complaint lobbed by 8th District Democrat Darcy Burner against Rep. Dave Reichert.

McMorris Rodgers has also gone on the air, and has more than a half million dollars on hand to keep doing so.