Club for Growth targets Claire McCaskill with hard-hitting ad about husband’s past
Today, an article in Washington Examiner highlighted a new ad CFG Action Missouri launched that exposes Claire McCaskill for ignoring her husband’s record of domestic violence all while profiting off of his wealth – obtained through government contracts no less. The 30-second ad entitled, “Cry,” is running statewide in Missouri.
Read today’s Washington Examiner article in its entirety here and below:
Club for Growth targets Claire McCaskill with hard-hitting ad about husband’s past
Washington Examiner
David Drucker
July 30, 2018
The Club for Growth [CFG Action Missouri] raises the specter of past domestic violence accusations against Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill’s husband in new hard-hitting television advertisement running statewide in Missouri.
The Club for Growth [PAC], a conservative advocacy organization, is backing Republican Josh Hawley, the Missouri attorney general, in the state’s hotly contested U.S. Senate race. In a departure for the Club, whose advertising typically focuses on fiscal issues, it is attempting to undercut McCaskill’s support among women with an attack tying her voting record in Congress to abuse allegations leveled against her husband, Joseph Shepard, by his ex-wife.
“Claire McCaskill has been giving the back of her hand to voters and padding the pockets of her family for a generation,” Club for Growth spokeswoman Rachael Slobodien said in a statement provided to the Washington Examiner. “Her husband’s treatment of women and her turning a blind eye while funding the agencies that pay her own family is hypocrisy at its finest. Missourians deserve better.”
The Club [CFG Action Missouri] is airing the 30-second spot statewide, with extra time purchased in the St. Louis and Springfield media markets, presumably parts of the state where Hawley could use a boost. Republicans have long sought to use McCaskill’s husband’s wealth and business dealings to damage her political standing, but this might be the first time they’ve tried to get to her through Shepard’s personal life.
“Each week in Missouri, over five hundred requests for shelter and assistance for domestic violence victims go unmet. Is Claire McCaskill listening?” the ad’s voice-over says as the spot opens. “Even after McCaskill’s political benefactor and now-husband was accused of abusing his then-wife, McCaskill looked the other way, voting to finance the agencies providing him with fat government contracts.”
In addition to sharing the ad with the Washington Examiner, the Club for Growth provided copies of a police report of the incident and Suzanne Shepard’s petition for an order of protection from Joseph Shepard filed in family court in St. Louis County.
The spot comes as Hawley has struggled to separate himself from the Democratic incumbent despite the strong conservative lean of his state and the popularity of President Trump. Indeed, the president defeated Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in Missouri by nearly 20 percentage points.
Yet McCaskill, who has raised far more money than Hawley, leads the state attorney general in the RealClearPolitics.com average polling average, 45.2 percent to 44.2 percent.
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Club for Growth PAC is a political arm of the Club for Growth, a 501(c)(4).
The Club for Growth is the nation’s leading group promoting economic freedom through legislative involvement, issue advocacy, research, and education.