Democratic PAC tags Boehner, GOP as crybabies

Catalina Camia | USA TODAY

House Speaker John Boehner and nine of his fellow Republicans are being portrayed as crybabies.

A Democratic super PAC is running ads featuring a wailing infant, as a way to accuse Republicans of shutting down the government because they weren't able to defund President Obama's health care law.

The House Majorty PAC ad targeting Boehner, R-Ohio, will run Sunday in his district during the Cincinnati Bengals vs. New England Patriots football game.

"Speaker John Boehner didn't get his way on shutting down health care reform, so he shut down the government and hurt the economy," the narrator says.

It's not the first time the imagery of a crying baby has been used in the context of a government shutdown. The new TV ad is a reminder of a famous New York Daily News cover in 1995 that depicted then-House speaker Newt Gingrich as a diaper-wearing baby throwing a hissy fit because President Clinton made him walk off the back of Air Force One. Gingrich said at the time he believed they would chat about the budget during the long flight to Israel, but Clinton never stopped by.

The Democratic super PAC's ad is also running in the districts of nine GOP lawmakers in California, Colorado, Illinois, Pennsylvania, New York, Nevada, Ohio, Minnesota and Florida who have all been targeted for defeat next year. The ads are part of a six-figure multimedia campaign, the PAC says.

Boehner on Friday lashed out at President Obama and Democrats for refusing to sit down and negotiate on a budget measure that would reopen the government and also ensure "fairness" under the Affordable Care Act.