Republican National Committee aims ads at Reno

The Republican National Committee began airing television ads in Nevada and two other states on Monday attacking President Barack Obama's plans for health care reform.

The Nevada ads, which seek to label the Democrats' push for health care a risky "grand experiment," are airing only in Reno, according to a source with access to the information. They are scheduled to be broadcast through July 30.

The television campaign portrays health care as the latest item in an Obama "spending spree" that has included massive bailouts and industry takeovers. Over photos of sad-looking babies and children, a narrator intones, "His new experiment risks their future and our health."

The ads are pegged to RNC Chairman Michael Steele's speech at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., on Monday morning, in which he sought to launch an all-out national GOP offensive on the issue. Major health care reform bills currently are making their way through the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.

The television campaign is aimed at Nevada, North Dakota and Arkansas, all states where the RNC believes Democratic senators could be vulnerable to political pressure.

Nevada is home to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, while North Dakota's Byron Dorgan and Arkansas' Blanche Lincoln both are conservative Democrats who, like Reid, are up for re-election in 2010.

According to the source, the RNC is spending $38,000 to air the ad in Nevada.

"Republicans know we need health care reform -- costs are too high and families are struggling to afford quality care," Steele said in a news release announcing the ads. "But the Democrats' plan would raise taxes on small businesses and lead to higher costs and rationed care."

Reid believes health care reform will help the economy in the long run and give Americans more choices, spokesman Jon Summers said.

"Senator Reid is committed to passing health care reform that makes health care more accessible and more affordable," Summers said. "You go tell a family that can't take their child to the doctor that health care reform is too risky."

Democrats also are looking to take the battle on health care to the states with a grass-roots effort by the Democratic National Committee that aims to replicate the methods of Obama's presidential campaign.

The Democratic effort was scheduled to include an organizing meeting in Reno and a phone bank in Las Vegas on Monday evening.

Contact reporter Molly Ball at mball @reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2919.