"Vets for Freedom", the Republican front group headed by Dan Senor, will run ads for Lieberman (R) beginning next week, according to Jennifer Medina in the Times:

The ads will begin on Wednesday, with the group spending $75,000 to $100,000 for two days’ viewing, primarily on cable news stations, but also on network affiliates in Hartford. The group plans to continue the campaign through the election cycle and will probably do another commercial, advisers to the group said....

The group is receiving advice from Taylor Gross, a former White House official; Bill Kristol, the editor of The Weekly Standard; and the Republican strategist Dan Senor. Mr. Lieberman’s former chief of staff, Bill Andresen, is also helping the group, which by law is prohibited from communicating with the campaign.

In the next two months, Mr. Senor said, the ads will be shown on cable news outlets in Connecticut, but the group will also place them in other national media markets. There are no plans to promote any other candidate, but that could change in the next several weeks, Mr. Senor said.

There's little reason to be concerned about the impact of these particular ads. Regardless of what pro-Bush neocon PR firms try to peddle, most voters in Connecticut know that Sen. Lieberman's blind support for the Bush-Cheney policy in Iraq has hurt our troops, not helped them.

But what will Sen. Lieberman say about the fact that this pro-Bush group (with links to to the Swift Boaters) is paying for ads on his behalf? Bush was forced to comment on the Swift Boaters in 2004. Lieberman needs to be forced to comment on this group in 2006.

He needs to defend his links to failed neocon architects of the war, like Kristol, and failed ideologically-driven participants in the reconstruction, like Senor. And he needs to be forced do it before these ads start running.

Dave Johnson has the definitive post on the links between this group and the Swift Boat group that attacked Kerry in 2004:

Pay close attention to the modus operandi operating here: Just as with the Swift Boat Vets for Truth, what we have here is conservative, party-aligned political operative PR firms setting up well-funded front-groups to attack opponents. Using a front group provides the real backers a degree of separation, insulating them from criticism for the nature of the attacks and smears.

They're going to smear Ned, if not in this ad, in future ones. Get ready for Osama bin-Lamont on a TV screen near you.

Support our troops. Elect Ned Lamont (D).