Excellent George Allen Ad: Tim Kaine is “Doing What The President Wants”

One of the top Senate races this year is going down in Virginia. With Senator Jim Webb (D) retiring, the seat is now open. Interestingly, the guy Senator Webb beat out for the seat in 2006, George Allen, is running to hold the seat once again – and he’s pulling out all the stops to defeat challenger and former Virginia Governor Tim Kaine.

How do you do that? Well, in Virginia you tie him to President Obama, of course!

It’s a tough ad, highlighting all of Tim Kaine’s support over the years for the failed Obama presidency. But the kicker comes near the end, when the ad quotes Kaine in This Week, saying: “I’m doing what the President wants me to do.” In response, the ad asks: “But what about us?”

This is a strategy a lot of Republicans are hoping will work in relatively red states across the country in 2012. It had some success in 2010 (see Pat Toomey and Rob Portman as well as others) but mixed results elsewhere (such as John Raese failing to defeat Manchin in West Virginia). However, there is one ace in the hole Senate Republicans have going for them this time: President Obama will be on top of the ballot. In red or purple states, that could make all the difference.

Or maybe not.