groups backing republican house and senate candidates are running new campaign ads urging voters to elect them as a check on a potential democratic white house, a shift in tone that acknowledges hillary clinton <u+2019>s strength in the polls. the u.s. chamber of commerce, house and senate republicans<u+2019> campaign arms and other gop-leaning super pacs are beginning to air ads labeling democrats as too closely linked to mrs. clinton or as rubber stamps for her agenda, with more sharply worded ads expected in the final two weeks before election day. <u+201c>one hillary in washington would be bad enough,<u+201d> warns a senate leadership fund ad in missouri that tries to connect democratic senate candidate jason kander to mrs. clinton, who remains unpopular in the state. mr. kander is running against incumbent gop sen. roy blunt. many republican ads previously criticized democrats for being allied with mrs. clinton but didn<u+2019>t suggest so openly that she is likely to be the next president. <u+201c>pivoting to a checks-and-balances message is pretty much conceding that clinton will win, thus it<u+2019>s the message of last resort,<u+201d> said jennifer duffy, who analyzes senate races for the nonpartisan cook political report. <u+201c>it<u+2019>s being used more in states where clinton has been unpopular in an effort to rally the gop base.<u+201d> republican presidential nominee donald trump <u+2019>s standing in national polls has declined sharply amid his trio of debates with mrs. clinton and in the wake of the release of a 2005 video in which he talks in crude sexual terms about grabbing women without their consent. mrs. clinton led mr. trump by 11 percentage points in the most recent wall street journal/nbc news poll. in the same poll, voters said they would rather have democrats control congress than republicans by two points. but voters by 13 points favored a generic republican who would serve as a check on mrs. clinton, rather than a democrat who would pass her agenda. the national republican senatorial committee has also taken aim at mr. kander in ads aimed at undercutting his relatively centrist positions on economic and social issues by linking him to mrs. clinton. anne feldman, a spokeswoman for mr. kander, said in a statement, <u+201c>it<u+2019>s clear that sen. blunt and his allies are desperate to pretend secretary clinton is running for senate in an attempt to fend off jason<u+2019>s strong candidacy and grass-roots momentum in missouri.<u+201d> the congressional leadership fund, the primary super pac backing house republicans, has surveyed all 32 districts where it is spending money and has found that, though mrs. clinton is winning many of them, voters in all 32 districts prefer candidates who would be a <u+201c>check<u+201d> on her power, rather than a <u+201c>rubber stamp<u+201d> on her agenda. the group will begin airing ads in numerous districts using the <u+201c>rubber stamp<u+201d> theme later this week in states where mrs. clinton is favored to win, said its president, mike shields. <u+201c>democrats are living in this fantasy world where they perceive hillary as winning, and they think that translates into support for their down-ballot candidates,<u+201d> he said. still, high-profile democrats have been making the pitch that voters who back mrs. clinton should work to ensure that she has a democratic-controlled senate and perhaps even a house majority to enact her agenda into law. <u+201c>we want to win big,<u+201d> president barack obama said monday at a california fundraiser for mrs. clinton. <u+201c>we don<u+2019>t just want to eke it out.<u+201d> the chamber of commerce last thursday began airing an ad in new hampshire backing republican sen. kelly ayotte, arguing that <u+201c>no matter who the next president is, new hampshire needs a strong voice in the u.s. senate,<u+201d> and asking what her democratic opponent, gov. maggie hassan, would do if <u+201c>unchecked in washington.<u+201d> the house republicans<u+2019> campaign arm is running ads showing an actual rubber stamp producing mrs. clinton<u+2019>s <u+201c>i<u+2019>m with her<u+201d> slogan in attacks against democrat kim myers, who is running against republican claudia tenney to succeed retiring centrist gop rep. richard hanna in new york. democrats, who have been bracing for weeks for these types of ads to begin airing, predicted the message will backfire with republicans who still support mr. trump and voters on both sides of the aisle tired of seeing washington mired in gridlock. <u+201c>to distract from donald trump, house republicans may try to sell voters a bill of goods with a last-minute closing argument<u+2014>that they will be a check on a president hillary clinton,<u+201d> said meredith kelly, a spokeswoman for house democrats<u+2019> campaign arm. <u+201c>voters will see this for what it is: a promise of more obstruction in washington.<u+201d> republicans currently hold 54 of the senate<u+2019>s 100 seats, so democrats would need to win a net of four seats in november to take control of the chamber if mrs. clinton wins the white house and her vice president could cast tiebreaking votes. in the house, democrats would have to win a net of 30 seats to take the majority, a feat seen as unlikely but not impossible. write to kristina peterson at kristina.peterson@wsj.com
gop congressional campaign ads pitch candidates as a check on clinton white house - wsj
kristina peterson michelle hackman