Hot on the heels of an ad tying Republican Senate candidate Bob Schaffer to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff and sweatshop operators, a campaign finance watchdog group hit the Denver airwaves Monday morning with a second ad blasting Schaffer as a “war profiteer” over an Iraqi oil deal he negotiated.
The ad is part of a “high six figures” ad campaign Campaign Money Watch announced last week. Rep. Mark Udall, an Eldorado Springs Democrat, leads Schaffer by 10 points in the hotly contested Senate race to replace retiring Repbulican Sen. Wayne Allard, according to poll released Saturday night.
“Bob Schaffer has too many ties to special interests for just one ad,” said David Donnelly, director of Campaign Money Watch. “Our latest spot will show he has a history of looking out for his donors’ interests, not those of Colorado voters.”
The ad claims Schaffer has accepted $224,000 in campaign contributions from oil interests and “voted to give big oil companies nearly $13 billion in tax breaks.”
Here’s the new ad:
And here’s a transcript:
What Bob Schaffer doesn’t want you to know.
The Feds are looking at an oil deal Bob Schaffer cut in Iraq.
Veterans blasted Schaffer for the deal.
And the leader of a veteran’s organization called Bob Schaffer a war profiteer, 100 percent.
Schaffer voted to give big oil companies nearly $13 billion in tax breaks.
And big oil gave $224,000 to Schaffer’s political campaigns.
Tell Bob Schaffer it’s time to clean up politics.
Schaffer led a delegation from Aspect Energy, the Denver-based energy firm, to negotiate an oil exploration agreement with the Kurdish Regional Government in late 2006. The company, which employed Schaffer until the end of last year, signed the agreement in November 2007, two months after the Bush Administration criticized a similar independent deal with the Kurds for thwarting efforts to achieve a national oil law. Critics have charged Schaffer’s actions undermined U.S. policy in Iraq and helped prolong the war.
