Tammy Baldwin calls Thompson 9/11 attack ad a 'disgrace'
By Mario Trujillo - 10/24/12 11:57 AM ET

Rep. Tammy Baldwin’s (D-Wis.) Senate campaign came out with an ad calling opponent Tommy Thompson’s use of the 9/11 tragedy to attack her a “disgrace” while also accusing him of profiting from the victims.

The tight Wisconsin Senate race has become increasingly negative, with both campaigns using the tragedy in ads this week.

On Tuesday, Thompson released an ad criticizing Baldwin for not supporting the victims of the 2001 tragedy in a 2006 congressional vote. Baldwin’s campaign shot back that the vote in question was also tied to support for the Patriot Act and other controversial provisions. Her campaign highlighted nine other occasions in which she honored the victims.

On a conference call Wednesday, Baldwin spokesman John Kraus said Thompson’s ad was a sign that his campaign has become desperate and called it “as disgusting as it is dishonest.”

The Baldwin campaign also highlighted a quote from a 9/11 victims advocate John Feal, who said Thompson “has gone down a few notches on the scale of human beings.”

Baldwin’s new ad calls Thompson’s ad a disgrace, with a narrator saying, “Tammy Baldwin has supported honoring victims of 9/11.”

The ad goes on to criticize Thompson, the former secretary of Health and Human Services under the George W. Bush administration, for profiting off contracts to help the victims of the attack.

Once leaving the government, Thompson headed a company that provided medical care to the 9/11 victims.

“He got a government contract to provide health care to 9/11 first responders,” the ad states. “But Tommy took advantage, leaving them without the care they were promised. Tommy Thompson, personally, made over $3 million off the deal. Tommy Thompson should be ashamed.”In a press release debuting the ad, the campaign goes on: “After leaving HHS, Thompson then cashed in with a $11 million government contract to provide health care to 9/11 first responders but left many of them without the care they were promised.”

The campaign wouldn't detail the size of the ad buy but said it will be comparable to past ad buys and will be running statewide.

The poll numbers in the race are nearly even. The Real Clear Politics average shows Baldwin with a 0.8-point lead.