Administration's Friends Target AARP

Here are the web ads that Administration buddy USA Next has been running on the American Spectator website - Josh Marshall has the original story and first follow-up over at TPM.

Yesterday's NYT has the skinny on USA Next. By sheer coincidence - Look Ma - no White House coordination! - they have mounted multimillion dollar radio and TV ad campaigns in support of the Administration's 2002 prescription drugs bill, the 2004 reelection of its favorite congresspersons, and now, the Social Security privatization initiative. They've hired some of the Swift Boat Veterans - Good work, fellas! - and hope to maintain a deniable distance for the upcoming Social Security AARP smear. As an anonymous USA Next official says in the NYT piece:

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that the White House doesn't want anything to do with a group that is attacking the AARP. We are not going to drag them into this mess.

Whatever you say, buddy. Let's go to the tape:


This is the current ad. It's hard to know exactly what to make of it - I guess the AARP is in favor of abandoning our troops in Iraq for the sake of sponsoring gay marriage receptions here at home. Doesn't sound like my grandmother's agenda - perhaps yours?


Simple, succinct, to the point. I am guessing the common denominator is that all these boogeyfolk have spoken at meetings of the AARP, right?