Mark Pryor of Arkansas on Friday became the first Democratic senator to air a TV ad in advance of next year's elections.
And that first ad is decidely anti-Barack Obama and his agenda.
In the statewide ad, Pryor defends his decision to vote against an amendment pushed by the president to expand background checks for firearm sales.
“Nothing in the Obama plan would have prevented tragedies like Newtown, Aurora, Tuscon or even Johanesboro," he says looking into the camera. "I’m Mark Pryor. And I approve this message because no one from New York or Washington tells me what to do. I listen to Arkansas.”
The four Democrats that opposed the legislation have been targeted by gun control groups and even left-leaning groups who supported the amendment. Mayors Against Illegal Guns, founded by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, went on the air Thursday on radio and TV against Pryor. The group plans to send victims to his "Sportsmen Town Hall" in Little Rock Saturday to ask Senator Pryor to reconsider his vote on background checks.
"Mark Pryor had no problem listening to New Yorkers when he scooped up over a quarter of a million dollars for his campaigns from New York donors," said John Feinblatt, Mayors chairman and Bloomberg's chief policy advisor. "It's time for Senator Pryor to stop the hypocrisy and explain why he voted against a background check bill that 84 percent of Arkansans support."