Hoekstra's original Super Bowl ad attracted national media attention after igniting criticism from cultural, religious and ethnic groups. Programs on stations ranging from Fox to MSNBC debated the ad. Democrats and Republican challengers attacked the ad for being hypocritical, saying Hoekstra has a record of spending.
Some Republicans and Hoekstra supporters liked the ad and believe the response has been an overreaction. But some Republican consultants spoke out in opposition of the piece, with national GOP consultant Mike Murphy tweeting it was "really, really dumb."
Mark Brewer, chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party, called the new ad a replacement in the face of mounting criticism of the Super Bowl ad.
"Hoekstra is replacing this ad because he knows it is indefensible and untrue," Brewer said in a statement. "Hoekstra is trying to blame others for the country's debt, but even people in his own party are pointing out that he voted for the Wall Street bailout, giveaways to special interests and trillions more in deficit spending."
Hoekstra has defended his spending record as conservative and defends his votes to increase the debt ceiling as not wanting to cut support for troops overseas. He's also said his ad is not racist and only insensitive to Stabenow. The point, he said, was to show reckless American spending is helping China.
