Udall releases second national security TV ad; NRSC blasts first ad

A week after Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Mark Udall's campaign released a TV ad on national security, Udall unveiled a second TV ad on the same issue Tuesday.

Also Tuesday, the National Republican Senatorial Committee released an online rebuttal video to Udall's first TV ad on national security.

Udall's new ad, entitled "Respected," began airing in the Denver market Tuesday. It will start running in the Colorado Springs, Grand Junction and Pueblo markets the following week, said Udall spokesperson Tara Trujillo. 

All runs will be open-ended, Trujillo said.

Udall's new ad is very similar to an ad that his campaign began running last week. In both ads, Udall advocates creating a new Army division, helping military veterans, and capturing Osama bin Laden.

But in the latest ad, Udall adds to that list: "And start investing in our economy here at home."

Trujillo deflected questions about why the campaign created a new ad so similar to one that started running just last week, saying the new ad "shows Mark Udall’s priorities for here and the rest of the country" while Republican U.S. Senate candidate Bob Schaffer "is side-by-side with President Bush."

Asked for a response to the new ad, Schaffer manager Dick Wadhams said in an e-mail that "We look forward to the Boulder Liberal Mark Udall ad touting the Kucinich-Udall bill to take 8 billion dollars from the Defense Department to create a Department of Peace."

Echoing Wadhams' comment, the NRSC put out a Web video Tuesday that criticizes Udall's past support of a Department of Peace.

"Mark's idea of getting it right? Spending billions on a 'Department of Peace'...based on funding for the Department of Defense," the NRSC ad reads. "That's $7.7 billion Udall wanted to spend to ...create a 'Peace Academy' ... establish a 'Peace Day' ...and REQUIRE the Secretary of Defense to consult with the 'Secretary of Peace.'"

In 2001, Udall was one of 44 co-sponsors of a House bill by U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) to establish a Department of Peace. When the bill was re-introduced in 2003, Udall initially co-sponsored it but later withdrew his support.