BY WESLEY P. HESTER

Karl Rove-founded conservative group Crossroads GPS is up with yet another ad in Virginia, this one taking aim at Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Timothy M. Kaine.

The 30-second spot, titled “Ants,” focuses on Kaine’s support for President Barack Obama’s stimulus plan as Democratic National Committee chairman, featuring several clips of Kaine defending the stimulus.

“The stimulus is working,” Kaine says in one clip. “But it actually wasted money studying ants in Africa,” the narrator adds.

“These are investments that will put people to work right away,” Kaine says in another clip. “But it failed miserably,” the narrator says.

The spot is just the latest in a long line of Crossroads ads attacking Kaine and Obama in fiscal issues ahead of the November election.

Kaine and Democrats have also pounced on Allen’s economic record in the U.S. Senate, accusing him of contributing to the nation’s debt burden through supporting deficit spending.

“Independent economists, analysts, and even Virginia’s Republican governor have admitted the Recovery Act saved or created millions of jobs and helped balance Virginia’s budget,” said Kaine campaign spokeswoman Brandi Hoffine. “This ad and George Allen’s constant harping on a policy that even his own party admits helped families and businesses is exactly the type of hyper-partisanship voters are tired of in Washington.”  

The campaign also included a “fact check” of the ad noting that the claim that stimulus money had been used to study ants in Africa “Mostly False” by PolitiFact. Another claim in the ad was also deemed “Mostly False” by PolitiFact when used in another state.

Kaine faces fellow former governor George Allen in what is expected to be one of the most competitive races in the country.

Both candidates have also reserved significant chunks of air time for the fall, with Kaine’s campaign having reserved $3.5 million worth and Allen’s $3 million.