Rick Duncan

UPDATED 10:25 P.M. 10/8/2008

Fifth Congressional District Democratic nominee Hal Bidlack's campaign unveiled their first two television ads of the campaign Wednesday - one positive, one negative.

The negative ad alleges Republican incumbent Doug Lamborn voted against foreclosure protection for U.S. troops and took contributions from big oil companies then voting against renewable energy.

The second, positive ad is aimed at the 5th Congressional District's significant population of military veterans by touting Bidlack's career as a nuclear missile launch officer, Air Force veteran and national security advisor.

The 501(c)4 group VoteVets.org unveiled a new television ad today criticizing Republican U.S. Senate nominee Bob Schaffer for not doing enough to help military veterans.

The ad will start airing Thursday in Denver and Colorado Springs on broadcast TV, and run through next week, the anti-Iraq War group stated in a press release.

Three Colorado military veterans, including Colorado Veterans Alliance President Rick Duncan, blast Schaffer in the ad for his Kurdistan oil deal and for voting against some veterans' benefits funding bills while in Congress.

Both presidential campaigns trotted out Colorado military veterans on Monday: McCain's camp to unveil a new state veterans campaign group, Obama's to answer a recent negative television ad by McCain.

In Denver, CO-5 Democratic candidate and retired Air Force Lt. Col. Hal Bidlack and Colorado Veterans' Alliance President Rick Duncan joined other veterans in blasting presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain.

Less than an hour later, in Colorado Springs, the McCain camp unveiled Colorado Veterans for John McCain, a campaign constituency group headed by, among others, former U.S. Sen. Hank Brown (R-Colo.)

The Colorado Veterans' Alliance, a 32,000-member veterans' advocacy group, will soon be deploying new field offices across Colorado.

The Colorado Springs-based vets' group will open offices in Denver by late September, as well as regional offices in Fort Collins, Grand Junction and Lamar, said CVA President Rick Duncan, a retired Marine Captain who served three tours in Iraq.

The Denver office will be used to lobby the State Legislature when it reconvenes in January, Duncan said. The other offices will be used for advocacy, events organizing, and "to create a presence," he said.

What if they gave anti-war protest and nobody came? No joke,  that's the real life scenario that played out last week on the 5th anniversary of Bush's ill-timed "Mission Accomplished" speech. 2nd CD candidate Jared Polis invited people to attend his anti-war event blasting Bush and the Veterans Administration for inadequate care of veterans and no one showed up, except our reporter.