By Carl Weiser
Enquirer Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON - A conservative Republican group begins running TV ads today against GOP Sen. George Voinovich, likening his fight against President Bush's tax cuts to France's disloyalty to the United States during the Iraq war.

In a press release announcing its $100,000 ad campaign, the anti-tax Club for Growth denounced Voinovich as a "Franco-Republican" for deserting President Bush when he needed the senator's support on his proposed $726 billion tax cut.

Along with Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe - a target of identical ads - Voinovich struck a deal with GOP leaders to keep the tax cut to $350 billion. A self-described "deficit hawk," Voinovich said he will support more only if Congress finds a way to pay for it, with spending cuts or closing tax loopholes.

"Senators Voinovich and Snowe have single-handedly thwarted the central piece of President Bush's economic stimulus package," said Stephen Moore, Club for Growth president.

SEE THE AD

www.clubforgrowth.org

Moore said the ads would air only in Columbus. It would have been too expensive and inefficient to air in Cincinnati, he said, because much of the viewing audience would be outside Ohio.

The ad features Voinovich's face juxtaposed against a waving French flag, and calls him a "so-called Republican."

Voinovich spokesman Scott Milburn called the ads "ridiculous."

"It reminds me of the Iraqi information minister's daily briefing," he said. "Not to trouble these people with the facts, but the senator is for the entire tax package. He just wants to make sure that anything over $350 billion is not simply added to the big national credit card called the deficit."

Voinovich also has suggested holding off on a proposed dividend tax credit, rolling that into some tax reform bill in the future.

President Bush said he would settle for a $550 billion tax cut and has been sending members of his administration across the country to sell the tax cuts, which the White House says is key to creating jobs.

"The White House will continue to work with members of Congress to pass a robust jobs package," White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said. As for the Club for Growth's campaign, Stanzel said the White House doesn't comment on what outside groups do.

The Club for Growth has worked to oust moderate Republicans from Congress, recruiting primary challengers to them. This year, the group persuaded Rep. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., to challenge centrist Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., in a primary.

"We've heard from a lot of our members in Ohio: 'Gosh, George Voinovich has turned into a RINO' - a Republican in name only," Moore said. "If you call yourself a Republican, you should be for economic-growth tax policies."

Moore said he had solicited "through the grapevine" several conservatives in Ohio to challenge Voinovich, including former Rep. John Kasich and Secretary of State Ken Blackwell. Both said no.

A spokesman for Blackwell, a former mayor of Cincinnati, said any conversations he had with GOP conservatives are private.

"Ohioans have known for years that while Secretary Blackwell and Senator Voinovich share a strong pro-life ethic and fierce opposition to the expansion of gambling in Ohio, they differ radically on economic fiscal and tax policies," Carlo LoParo said. The only office Blackwell is seeking is governor, he said.

E-mail cweiser@gns.gannett.com