New anti-war ad targets Domenici

A new television ad from a group that wants to end the Iraq war is challenging U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici of New Mexico and three other GOP incumbents up for re-election next year.

Sponsored by Americans Against Escalation in Iraq, a coalition of national anti-war groups, the ad will cost about $500,000 to run in the districts of the four senators and on national cable for 10 days, the Associated Press is reporting.

The ad is the newest assault against a senator whose popularity has dropped in recent months because of his involvement in the U.S. attorney scandal and his position on the Iraq war, but Domenici has yet to draw a top-tier challenger in 2008, when he is up for re-election.

Three lesser-known Democrats are vying for the right to challenge him.

Domenici has broken with Bush on Iraq policy – saying he wants a withdrawal of American troops to begin in the spring – but he doesn’t support Democratic proposals to bring troops home now or cut funding for the war.

A Domenici-specific ad is scheduled to run in the Albuquerque market, while an ad attacking “Republican senators” will run on national cable channels that can be viewed in Las Cruces.

The ad shows children in fatigues and asks how long Republicans will keep the United States “stuck in Iraq,” asking if we should “start training our children now.”

The Domenici-specific ad isn’t posted on YouTube, but here’s the general ad:

Update, 9:45 p.m.

Here’s the Domenici ad: