Karl Rove-founded conservative group Crossroads GPS is up with two new ads in Virginia targeting Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Timothy M. Kaine.
The ads, titled “Cost” and “Pledged” hit Kaine for supporting last year’s debt deal and proposing tax increases as governor respectively.
“Cost” accuses Kaine of failing to put Virginia first by voicing support for the debt reduction deal, which he called “the right thing to do” at a recent debate.
The deal established a so-called “super-committee” to identify deficit reductions, but when the committee failed, automatic cuts, which fall heavily on the Pentagon, were triggered and are due to take effect at the end of this year.
The $500 billion in defense cuts could potentially cost 200,000 Virginia jobs, a recent study concluded.
What the ad does not mention is that the debt deal was a bipartisan plan supported by numerous Republicans, including House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-7th, and Gov. Bob McDonnell.
While Kaine’s rival, George Allen, never supported the deal, Kaine has stated on numerous occasions that the deep defense cuts should be avoided.
“Despite numerous fact checks and all evidence to the contrary, Crossroads continues to peddle George Allen’s lies about Tim Kaine and defense cuts,” said Kaine campaign spokeswoman Brandi Hoffine. “Tim Kaine believes these sequestration cuts are the wrong cuts and congress must reach a bipartisan deal to avoid them.”
“Pledged” attacks Kaine for a tax hike proposal before leaving office as governor, and accuses him of “reckless spending” and cutting college funding.
“Tim Kaine pledged no new taxes, but he pushed a $2 billion tax hike,” the narrator says.
“As Virginians know well, the tax burden under Tim Kaine was lower than under George Allen and Kaine spent his term working across party lines to cut spending by more than $5 billion as Virginia recovered from the reckless spending of George Allen that added $3 trillion to our national debt and turned record surpluses into massive deficits,” Hoffine responded.
Both 30-second spots will run for a week starting today and are backed by $559,000 ad buys.
Like other Crossroads ads, they urge support for the “New Majority Agenda.” The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee on Wednesday launched a video taking aim at the agenda.
