It’s a tough week for Virginia Democratic candidate Tim Kaine.
In one of the most competitive races in the country, it's not surprising that both Kaine and his opponent, Republican George Allen, have seen a massive amount of outside cash pouring in. And following the partisan trends of most of the country’s other elections, the majority of that outside cash has been aimed at attacking Kaine and helping Allen.
Now, three new attack ads against Kaine -- two of which were paid for by Karl Rove-backed conservative Super PAC Crossroads GPS -- are airing in Virginia.
One ad attacks Kaine’s record as governor, which includes “higher taxes, reckless spending, [and] skyrocketing tuition.” Another attacks his reported support of a plan that would put defense spending at risk and cost Virginia jobs. The third, which was paid for by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, hones in on Kaine’s support of unions.
The Kaine camp responded to each of the ads, saying the “tax burden under Tim Kaine was lower than under George Allen.” A statement from the campaign read in part:
Crossroads has now tried a half-dozen times to boost George Allen’s campaign. Tim Kaine twice offered George Allen opportunities to reach an agreement limiting the influence of these outside groups on this Senate race and George Allen twice declined, opting instead to bolster his re-election campaign with false, negative advertising.
The other two reposonses can be found here and here.
The Washington Times reported that Crossroads spent $1 million Wednesday on the ads, bringing total spending by non-traditional groups opposing Kaine to $2.3 million -- a record for any one congressional candidate.
But that doesn’t mean there’s no outside spending coming in the race on behalf of Kaine. An attack ad against Allen paid for by Democrat Majority PAC is also airing in the swing state.
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