WASHINGTON -- The conservative super PAC Crossroads GPS unveiled a series of ads on Tuesday that it will air against three Democratic Senate candidates in critical battleground states at the cost of $2.6 million.
The spots, which were posted on the group's YouTube page, go after former Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, and Nevada Rep. Shelley Berkley.
Kaine bears the brunt of the assault, with Crossroads putting up three separate spots criticizing him. One, which is targeted to the Washington D.C./Northern Virginia media market, accuses him of cutting money for public schools -- a charge that one could certainly level at those in the Republican Party who want large cuts to education funding, if not the elimination of the Department of Education outright.
What stands out, however, is the fact that these ads were unveiled on Sept. 11. The presidential campaigns have declared that Tuesday would be a respite from the usual partisan bickering. Save for a flare up over a tweet sent by Obama adviser David Axelrod, it's remained such.
But Crossroads GPS, which was started by Karl Rove and is barred from coordinating with Mitt Romney's campaign, doesn't have to operate by these rules.
It's unclear if the group is just debuting the new ads on its YouTube page or if it has actually begun airing them in different districts. Nate Hodson, a spokesman for the group, would only say that it was "a $2.6 million buy."
He would later tell the Washington Times: "Crossroads will keep turning up the heat until the wasteful spending, massive tax hikes, and disastrous government health care takeover are stopped. These spots alert citizens to the positions of self-serving politicians standing in the way of economic recovery."
Kaine, however, wasn't willing to give the group a pass for going after him on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
"It is a sad reflection of the divisiveness of our politics that outside groups like Crossroads GPS cannot set aside false partisan attacks even as our elected officials and citizens of all walks of life, political parties, and religious faiths join together to honor the dead, thank our first responders and service members, and celebrate the freedoms we enjoy as a nation," he said in a statement.
UPDATE: 3:40 p.m. -- One of the three anti-Kane Crossroads GPS ads has indeed aired in Virginia, a Democratic source who saw it on television tells The Huffington Post.
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