A liberal group is airing ads that target U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole.
Majority Action, a 527 group started in 2005 with help from investor George Soros, is spending $25,000 to $30,000 airing radio ads statewide this week that highlight Dole's record on gas-related issues.
Dole's campaign noted its earlier call for Democratic rival Kay Hagan to disavow third-party ads.
"Now we know why Kay Hagan refused to disavow third party attack groups — she's been planning on using them all along," said Dole spokesman Hogan Gidley in a statement.
He noted that Majority Action uses the same law firm as Hagan's campaign, Perkins Coie.
But Bill Buck, a Democratic consultant who serves as executive director of Majority Action, said the group has no ties to Hagan's campaign and is simply an "issue advocacy" ad.
"Perkins Coie is a huge national firm with a ton of clients," he said. "That's a goofy statement to make."
Majority Action is also airing ads targeting Oregon Sen. Gordon Smith, who faces a tough re-election fight. Buck said they have not decided whether they will air more ads in North Carolina.
The group has also received money from the Service Employees International Union, which is taking an increasingly active role in North Carolina races.




Re: Democratic 527 airs ads against Dole
Mr. UNC Republican:
I have not heard the ad and so cannot comment on its content.
Are you challenging any of the assertions in the ads targeting Dole's record? If so, please specify them. If not, please avoid associating an issue ad with the kinds of lies and smears to which John Kerry was subjected in 2004.
And please, don't go out of your way to label yourself as out of touch with the facts of this campaign. "Man enough"? Leaving aside the offensive inference, has it escaped your notice that both Sen. Dole and Sen. Hagan are women? And both tough enough to take care of themselves in debate, I might add--their gender being as irrelevant as always to their intellectual capacities.