BY WESLEY P. HESTER

A new TV ad attacking President Barack Obama has hit the Virginia airwaves, this one from Karl Rove-founded conservative group Crossroads GPS.

The ad, “Stopwatch,” focuses on the nation’s mounting debt and begins airing today and is scheduled to run for two weeks. The $1.2 million Virginia ad buy is part of a $4 million push in the swing state maligning Obama for his handling of the economy.

“Why isn’t the economy stronger? In the seconds it takes to watch this, our national debt will increase 1.4 million,” the narrator opens over the sound of a stopwatch ticking.

Then comes a clip of Obama from the campaign trail in 2008, stating, “We can’t mortgage our children’s future on a mountain of debt.” The narrator follows, “Now he’s adding $4 billion in debt every day, borrowing from China for his spending, every second growing our debt faster than our economy.”    

The Crossroads ads are also airing Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio and Pennsylvania.  In total, the issue advocacy effort will costs the group $25 million.