As Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss battles to keep his senate seat in Georgia, his campaign released ads accusing his Democratic challenger of being a danger to children.
One of the ads paints Jim Martin as soft on crime and responsible for making families less safe.
It says Martin was fired from a government position "after children die[d]," referencing Martin's 2003 resignation from the post of commissioner of the Department of Human Resources after two toddlers passed away under state supervision.
But that is "hardly the implicit involvement that the charge suggests," The Huffington Post reported.
Democrats point out that Martin's daughter was kidnapped at the age of eight, causing the Georgia Democrat to introduce a wide-variety of legislation to protect families from crime, Newsweekreported.
"The memory of how his daughter trembled when forced to face her kidnapper in court has remained with Mr. Martin every day," said Matt Canter, a Martin spokesman.
The atmosphere is similar to Chambliss' 2002 run for the same office, when he questioned the patriotism of incumbent Max Cleland, a triple amputee veteran of the Vietnam War. Chambliss attacked Cleland for his stance on the war in Iraq.
"I'd never seen anything like that ad. Putting pictures of Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden next to the picture of a man who left three limbs on the battlefield - it's worse than disgraceful. It's reprehensible," McCain said at the time.
McCain has since campaigned for Chambliss in this election.
Another controversial ad from conservative group Freedom's Watch suggests Martin's policies would threaten "your family's safety."
Martin's campaign has run ads of its own, taking the usual strategy of attacking Chambliss -- a long-standing member of the GOP who supported McCain's campaign for the presidency -- for not backing Obama.
"No wonder he opposes the Obama economic recovery plan," the announcer says -- in a state that voted 52%-47% for McCain, Talking Points Memo reported.
As Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss battles to keep his senate seat in Georgia, his campaign released ads accusing his Democratic challenger of being a danger to children.