Crossroads GPS -- the conservative group founded by Karl Rove -- is running an ad in Virginia slamming Senate hopeful Tim Kaine by comparing him to President Barack Obama.
The ad hones in on Kaine’s policies while governor of Virginia.
Watch the ad here:
The Kaine campaign wasn’t happy with ad, and issued a press release correcting what it said was misleading information in the ad:
"The real similarities are between Rove's claims and George Allen's big-spending record. As governor, it was George Allen who grew Virginia's general fund by more than 45 percent. As senator, it was Allen who inherited a record surplus and turned it into a record deficit, while adding $3 trillion to our national debt and even voting repeatedly to give himself a raise as our country slipped further into the red. Tim Kaine, on the other hand, inherited the economic mess George Allen and Karl Rove helped create.
Instead of reelecting Allen, who twice promised fiscal responsibility and twice failed, Virginians are looking for a leader like Tim Kaine, who balanced Virginia's budget with $5 billion in cuts, including his own pay, and helped create the surplus the Commonwealth has today."
* D.C. Councilmember Marion Barry’s recent controversial remarks critical of Filipino nurses in D.C. hospitals has received some international attention.
Here’s a reminder of what he said when he told the president and board members of the University of the District of Columbia that the school should be training D.C. residents to serve as teachers and nurses:
"In fact, it's so bad, that if you go to the hospital now, you find a number of immigrants who are nurses, particularly from the Philippines," Barry said. "And no offense, but let's grow our own teachers, let's grow our own nurses -- and so that we don't have to be scrounging around in our community clinics and other kinds of places -- having to hire people from somewhere else."
The Ambassador of the Republic of the Philippines to the United States of Americas issued this statement in response:
"The remarks of District of Columbia Councilmember Marion Barry criticizing local hospitals for hiring Filipino nurses are deplorable. This is not the first time such intolerant and narrow-minded comments came from him. Just three weeks ago, he made the prejudiced observation that Asian-owned businesses were 'dirty shops.'
From its silent beginnings, the Philippine nursing profession grew to become a major player in the global healthcare market when it became the biggest supplier of registered nurses due to the global nursing shortage. Filipino nurses are known to be competent, hardworking, caring, and possess good work ethic. These are some of the reasons why most patients prefer and trust them. Like many good citizens, they pay their taxes and contribute to the American economy.
Councilmember Barry’s penchant for blaming Asians, who only want to work for their American dream, fuels racism, discrimination, and violence. Such rhetoric does nothing but harm relations among community members, when the times call for developing relationships and finding solutions to common challenges. He owes Filipino nurses an apology for his recent tirade."
