Max Brantley of The Arkansas Times doesn’t much care for the ad. On the Times‘ blog he writes,
This advertising is nothing but thinly veiled response advertising to Republican-aligned attack ads. It is not a direct campaign expenditure under the law, but it is so closely similar to that purpose as to be nearly indistinguishable. It’s just wrong, when filing hasn’t even opened for the Democratic primary. What if a better candidate runs?
I’m not sure that’s the point of it. Whether Democrats like it or not (and Mr. Brantley’s correct, a lot of them are unhappy) Ms. Lincoln is a pivotal figure in the health insurance reform debate. Some of her decisions have been puzzling, and I’ve noted them here and here. However, until January 2011 she’s sitting in the chair. The DPA knows that, and they also know that they need to flex some muscle to give her the encouragement to vote in favor of reform.