U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn.NASHVILLE - Republican U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander's campaign released a television ad Thursday aimed at bolstering the two-term lawmaker's conservative credentials as an opponent of President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act.
The 60-second ad, Alexander's second television spot, began running statewide Thursday.
"Lamar Alexander led the conservative fight against Obamacare," a narrator states. "Voted 23 times against it. Stood up to the president at the White House health care summit."
Much of the ad features C-SPAN video of an exchange between Alexander and Obama over the senator's assertion that health insurance premiums would go up under the law.
The ad takes the same line as a recent Alexander radio ad. It's going up as state Rep. Joe Carr, a Lascassas Republican mounting a primary challenge, slams Alexander for not joining efforts to defund Obamacare.
Carr says Alexander's record is "more liberal" than that of U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper, a Nashville Democrat.
Alexander seized on news the Obama administration has delayed until mid-September plans to sign final agreements with insurance plans that are to be sold to Americans through exchanges beginning Oct. 1.
"I've been warning that a train wreck is coming with this law, but the truth is that no train wreck has ever had this many warning signs," Alexander said in a statement. "The avalanche of last-minute delays should make every American anxious about the quality of the health care they'll be able to purchase in October."