The Democratic-aligned Majority PAC is on the air in Virginia, attacking former Sen. George Allen's (R-Va.) voting record in Congress and praising former Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine (D).
"Only one candidate for Senate actually served in Congress, and look at what George Allen did while he was there: He turned the largest budget surplus into a massive national deficit, voted to weaken Medicare and gave tax breaks to companies that shipped our jobs overseas," the ad's narrator says. "But Tim Kaine, he made Virginia the best state for business four years in a row, cut $5 billion in spending and kept Virginia's unemployment below the national average."
The group's ad comes as part of what appears to be a coordinated response from Democratic-aligned outside groups to a huge ad blitz from the GOP-aligned American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS this week — in announcing the ad, the group pointed out Democrats and their allies are now up on the air in all six states where Crossroads targeted Senate races last week, with state Democratic parties on the air in two others.
The ad also dovetails with Kaine's own message that his record proves he's the more fiscally responsible candidate.
The group did not announce how much money is behind the ad or whether it's running on broadcast television or just cable, but said it was being showing in the Norfolk, Richmond and Washington, D.C., markets.
Allen's campaign pushed back against the ad.
"It's disappointing but not surprising that Chairman Kaine's allies are coming into Virginia on his behalf to attack George Allen, with this latest group supported by Senators Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer and Barbara Boxer," said Allen spokeswoman Emily Davis. "Virginians are looking for a proven leader like George Allen who will fight to rein in an over-spending government with a Balanced Budget Amendment, line item veto authority, and a paycheck penalty against Members of Congress who fail to pass a budget on time."
This post was updated at 5:20 p.m.
