Corker comment featured in Senate ad – for North Dakota Democrat

Retiring Sen. Bob Corker has caused a lot of heartburn for Marsha Blackburn’s Senate campaign for his lukewarm endorsement of her bid to succeed him and for his refusal to saying he won’t campaign against his old friend Phil Bredesen in the race. Now some other Corker comments are appearing in another Democrat’s campaign ads in North Dakota.

The ad for Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) cites statements made about her by Republican colleagues, highlighted by one made by Corker in 2013 that she was “stronger than battery acid.”

“When it comes to fighting for North Dakota, I take battery acid as a compliment,” Heitkamp says in the ad.

The quote is from an article in American Banker, in which Corker discussed the freshman senator’s passion on the Senate Banking Committee, saying:  “She is, to use an adage back in Tennessee, stronger than battery acid.”

The full article is posted on Heitkamp’s website. Other Corker comments include:

“I’m a major fan,” said Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., who publicly praised Heitkamp as “stronger than battery acid” for her work and support on his bill to reform the government-sponsored enterprises.

In an interview, he cited both her knowledge and “her strength of commitment.”

“When we’ve had people try to take potshots at [the bill] she’s one of the first to show the strength that I feel senators should show when they are advocating a position. It’s candidly very enjoyable to watch her when something like that is occurring.”

…Corker said he’s been struck by her ability to dive into the specifics of the bill.

“I could not be more impressed with the way she knows the details and gets into the issues that matter on this piece of legislation,” he said. “So many senators up here rely in many cases on their staff to really do the heavy lifting … She has taken it upon herself to master the details and understand the nuance and that has had a big impact on the outcome of where this legislation is.”