A few weeks ago, I predicted that in order to defeat Rep. Tom Cotton in the Arkansas Senate race, Democrats would have to try to attack his time working as a management consultant for a global management consulting firm.
More specifically, I said they would “try to turn McKinsey & Co. into Cotton’s Bain Capital.”
It appears that’s exactly what is going on — based on the Senate Majority PAC’s forthcoming TV ad, obtained by the Daily Caller. The ad alleges that, “Before Congress, Cotton got paid handsomely, working for insurance companies” — an allegation curiously similar to one lodged by Cotton’s Democratic opponent, Sen. Mark Pryor.
The only problem? It doesn’t appear to be true.
After graduating from Harvard Law, Cotton spent five years as an Infantry Officer in the Army, and the last two years in the U.S. Congress. In between, he worked as a management consultant for McKinsey & Co. But according to his former boss at the firm, Cotton never worked for any big insurance companies.
“Tom and I were colleagues at McKinsey,” emails Priam Dutta, who worked with Cotton. “I was his team leader on a project in which we served the Federal Housing Authority, which represented his only insurance industry experience. He did not work for any insurance companies.”
For sourcing, the ad cites a “personal financial disclosure” and a Politico story from March 17, 2013. The only story mentioning Cotton from that date does not mention any work for insurance companies.
Watch the ad below: