Martin backs away from ad

ATLANTA --- Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Jim Martin on Saturday distanced himself from a party-backed ad blanketing the airwaves in Georgia attacking Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss for supporting a federal sales tax.

"It's 'Washington think,' " Mr. Martin said during a debate Saturday at WSB-TV in Atlanta. "I wish it wasn't running but it's factually correct."

Mr. Martin said the spot sponsored by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee took the focus off the real issues in the campaign for Georgians: the failed policies of the Bush administration.

The ad hammers Mr. Chambliss for his support of the "fair tax," which would eliminate the income tax and replace it with a national sales tax. The spot says Mr. Chambliss would slap "a 23 percent national sales tax on nearly everything you buy." It never mentions that the plan would also erase the income tax.

The Washington-based DSCC is pouring more than $500,000 into Georgia to attack Mr. Chambliss amid signs that Mr. Martin is gaining ground. The "fair tax" ad hit the airwaves this week.

Mr. Chambliss called the ad incorrect and misleading.

Federal election law prohibits the DSCC and Mr. Martin's campaign from coordinating efforts on the ad, which is an independent expenditure.

"It is not my ad," Mr. Martin said.

Some argue the ad could backfire just as Mr. Martin is seeing a momentum shift his way.

Some conservatives in Georgia were angry at Mr. Chambliss for supporting the $700 billion financial bailout bill. But the "fair tax" enjoys strong support among conservatives in the state who make up Mr. Chambliss' base, and some of them are now rushing to his defense.

The candidates are set to face off in three more debates before the election.