Freedom's Watch

UPDATED 1:56 P.M. 10/15/2008 

Several independent groups that have spent millions on anti-Mark Udall television ads during the past few weeks are reportedly leaving Colorado.

The 501(c)4 group Freedom's Watch and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which have spent more than $2 million on TV ads attacking the Democratic U.S. Senate nominee in the last two weeks of September alone, are pulling out of Colorado, the Denver Post reported Tuesday. The two groups are instead focusing on bolstering Republican U.S. Senate nominees in Oregon and North Carolina, the Post reported.

And ColoradoPols reported hearing "credible rumors" on Wednesday that the National Republican Senatorial Committee is pulling out of the Colorado U.S. Senate race as well.

WASHINGTON – As the newspaper headlines change, so do political advertisements.

The conservative advocacy organization Freedom’s Watch, which launched a nearly $700,000 television advertising buy in Colorado’s hotly contested Senate race last week focusing on national security, is throwing a new ad into its Colorado rotation with a more economic-oriented message.

The 30-second ad, “Hey Elk,” takes aim at Democratic candidate Mark Udall for supposedly voting in favor of a $10 million earmark for an elk bridge. Like its “Department of Peace” ad launched several weeks ago, Freedom’s Watch’s new spot uses to humor to tweak Udall.

“Hey Roy, do you know where that Mark Udall elk crossing bridge is?” one elk asks another in the ad.

The conservative non-profit advocacy group Freedom's Watch began airing a new television ad in Colorado on Thursday blasting Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Mark Udall's record on national security.

The ad, titled "Security," will be airing statewide as part of a weeklong ad buy in the "high six figures," according to Freedom's Watch spokesperson Tim Pearson.

The ad, which smacks of Saxby Chambliss' well-known attack ad against Max Cleland in the 2002 Georgia U.S. Senate race, shows pictures of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il while highlighting Udall's "no" votes on the Patriot Act, missile defense, "stronger border security," and "terrorist surveillance."

WASHINGTON -- When Arizonans opened the pages of the Arizona Republic on Veterans Day in November, there was a good chance they saw a full page advertisement taking aim at Democratic U.S. Rep. Harry Mitchell for his vote in support of a bill that included a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq. The advertisement featured a letter from injured Iraq veteran Andrew Robinson, pictured seated in a wheelchair.