The American Civil Liberties Union has put $1 million on the line to convince six senators to oppose the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Colorado Republican Sen. Cory Gardner is one of the six.
The seven-figure price tag is how much is ACLU paid for ads in four states: Colorado, Alaska, Nebraska and West Virginia. The ads were paid for using membership dues. According to an ACLU of Colorado spokesman, the ACLU has nearly two million members and 45,000 in Colorado.
The ads all end with the same call out to oppose Kavanaugh targeting specific Senators:
- Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colorado
- Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska
- Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska
- Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Nebraska
- Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-West Virginia
- Sen. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia
The start of the ad shows former journalists Matt Lauer and Charlie Rose, who lost their jobs after being accused of sexual misconduct, and Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, who is facing sex assault charges.
It then shows President Clinton's original denial of a sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky, and then a brief clip from a Bill Cosby interview when he responded to the initial claims of sexual assault against him.
The ad transitions to a clip of Kavanaugh from last week's Senate Judiciary Committee, when he denied the sexual assault allegations made by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford.
It's just the fourth time in 98 years that the ACLU has taken a stance opposing a Supreme Court nominee. The other times were for Justices William Rehnquist, Samuel Alito and nominee Robert Bork.
The ACLU does not oppose Judge Kavanaugh based on predictions about how he would vote as a justice. We oppose him in light of the credible allegations of sexual assault against him," said ACLU President Susan Herman.
In an editorial posted on the Denver Post website on Wednesday afternoon, ACLU of Colorado Executive Director Nathan Woodliff-Stanley detailed why Gardner was targeted in the ad campaign.
"Gardner was narrowly elected in 2014 under assurances that he would be a moderate and independent thinker not beholden to either political party. He explicitly promised during his campaign to protect women’s rights and to represent all Coloradans. In one of the most consequential votes he will ever cast, will Gardner show independence or go along with a high-pressure push to confirm a deeply problematic and partisan nominee who is the subject of multiple credible claims of sexual assault?" wrote Woodliff-Stanley.
Next reached out to Gardner's spokesman in Washington, D.C., who said he had nothing to add because the office doesn't comment on outside political ads.
