Tester says he bucks the party line in new ad

Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) released a new ad on Wednesday that aims to combat efforts by Republicans to paint him as voting in lockstep with his party and supporting President Obama's agenda.

The ad, titled "Everytime," features clips of Tester discussing a number of times he's bucked the Democratic Party, including his vote in support of the Keystone XL pipeline, a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution and his opposition to EPA regulations of particulate matter.

"Those out-of-state super-PACs don't know anything about me or Montana," he says, a nod to what Reuters reports are the 14 outside groups spending money in the race, much of which has been employed in an attempt to tie Tester to Obama.

Such a strategy, Republicans hope, could play well in a state President Obama lost in 2008. And Tester remains slightly behind challenger Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.) in most polls, though he's within the margin of error and could conceivably overcome the congressman before November.

The ad is backed by a $100,000 buy and will run statewide.

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