U.S. Rep. Tom Allen is running a new television commercial that blames the current economic crisis on policies supported by U.S. Sen. Susan Collins.

This ad indicates a shift in the campaign’s tone with only five weeks remaining before Election Day.

The Collins campaign Tuesday accused Allen of not only running a misleading ad but also reneging on a previous pledge to avoid making personal attacks. Collins spokesman Kevin Kelley said Allen is changing tactics only because he’s behind in the polls.

“He has now gone back on his word,” he said. “It’s disappointing, but not unexpected.”

Allen spokeswoman Carol Andrews said the ad is not a personal attack but instead focuses on the policy differences between Allen and Collins.

“The economy is in the tank. She helped us get there,” Andrews said of Collins. “Does that make her a bad person? No. But she made the wrong choices.”

The 30-second spot features images of anguished stockbrokers and Maine residents while suspenseful music plays in the background. It also shows Collins standing with President Bush.

“Susan Collins supported 100 percent the Bush economic policies that hurt Maine and created a national crisis,” the narrator says. “It’s time for a change.”

Andrews said the campaign’s more aggressive tone is part of broad strategy unrelated to Allen’s standing the polls. She said Allen has been making similar statements at campaign events. The only difference now, she said, is that he’s saying them on the public airwaves.

“This is a normal progression of the campaign,” she said.

A poll conducted on Sept. 22 and 23 found that Allen trailed Collins by 16 percentage points. The SurveyUSA poll had a margin of error is 3.8 percentage points.

Allen’s new approach is exactly what he needs to do if he wants to catch up to Collins, said Dennis Bailey, a Democratic political strategist who has been involved in numerous state races and referendum campaigns.

“The question now is whether it’s too little, too late,” he said.

Bailey added that the Wall Street crisis could help Allen because the public appears to be blaming Republicans more than Democrats for the Wall Street crisis.

But Allen’s negative tone could backfire because Maine’s voters typically get turned off by attack ads, said Edie Smith, a political consultant who works on referendum campaigns, including a 2004 campaign that defeated a proposal to ban bear baiting.

Moreover, Maine voters are familiar with Collins’ voting record and know that she doesn’t follow the party line, said Smith, a registered Republican.

“When I watched the ad, it gave me a feeling of, ‘Come on, Rep. Allen, stop blaming. Let’s hear what the solutions are.’ “

Andrews said Collins is the only member of the Maine delegation who has consistently supported Bush tax cuts for the “super wealthy.”

“That’s a huge fundamental difference between Susan Collins and Tom Allen,” she said. “He opposed them because he knew that middle-class Mainers will pay the price.”

Kelley said the Allen ad states that Collins voted for all of Bush’s economic policies. Yet, as proof, the campaign only cites Collins’ votes on tax cuts.

He said those tax cuts have nothing to do with economic policies that helped foster the economic crisis, such as lax government oversight of the nation’s financial industry.

He said Collins in 2005 supported legislation that would have strengthened government regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which the government took over in early September.

Copy the Story Link