Updated at 4:33 p.m.
Republican Senate candidate Scott Milne on Thursday released his first video advertisement of his campaign to unseat Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.). But in keeping with his low-budget bid, the Pomfret Republican appears to be running the ad only online — not on television.
In the 30-second spot, a narrator slams Leahy as a “career politician” who has caught the so-called “DiCa” (rhymes with “Zika”) virus “from spending too many decades in” Washington, D.C. Citing stories published by Seven Days and other sources, the ad accuses Leahy of taking campaign contributions from government contractors, accepting free travel from “big corporations” and living in a $1.3 million home in “a fancy D.C. suburb.”
“Save Patrick Leahy,” the narrator concludes. “Vote him out of D.C.”
Milne’s campaign manager, daughter Elise Milne, declined to say Thursday how much the campaign would spend to promote the ad.
Leahy, who is seeking an eighth six-year term, has been running TV ads for a month. His campaign spokesman, Jay Tilton, criticized Milne Thursday for the negative tone of his campaign.
“This is just the latest in Mr. Milne’s 100 percent negative campaign, and it clearly fails his own ‘clean campaign’ pledge,” Tilton said. “Sen. Leahy will continue to run a positive, issue-oriented campaign as he always has.”
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Yesterday, Milne’s twitter account used the hashtag “cleancampaign.” Maybe Milne doesn’t think he’s broken his promise to not run a negative campaign because he isn’t sure what substantive policy proposals sound like.
Milne is kind of a nothing human being with absolutely nothing to offer Vermonters. The fact that he’s running a campaign devoid of any ideas and lots of negative nonsense does nothing but emphasize the noise from the echo chamber between his ears. Go away Mr. Milne. You’ve shown what a shallow, small man you are and Vermont needs none of it!