“Let’s say you had $87 billion dollars of taxpayer money. Would you give the big banks another bailout, or help America’s kids go to college?” That’s the opening of MoveOn.org’s first ad in Arkansas, criticizing Blanche Lincoln for her opposition to common-sense student loan reform.

Student loan reform is now tied up in health care reform, so the vote Lincoln takes on reconciliation will now be a referendum on her support of bank subsidies. She voted for TARP, as the MoveOn ad says, but tried to repent for that by voting against giving the second tranche of TARP money to the Treasury Department (in a vote that ultimately failed).

Lincoln is on the record against student loan reform (though she may prefer the less expensive version in the health care bill) and against the reconciliation process. She’s done virtually nothing prior to or since drawing a primary that has moved away from the right wing of the party, except with respect to highlighting her one anti-bank vote. So this is pretty shrewd of MoveOn, to explicitly cast the student loan bill as a choice between students and banks. They actually put a number to it – 58,000 Arkansas students would be able to afford college under the bill. Meanwhile Sallie Mae has begun to admit that the bill will not cause ANY job loss in their company.

“Don’t make our kids bail out Wall Street banks.” That’s the close.