For the second time this week, Republican U.S. Senate candidate George Allen is the target of an attack ad from Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. This time, the Democrats are going after Allen on women’s issues.

Allen’s Democratic opponent, former Gov. Tim Kaine, has emphasized some of the same issues to highlight contrasts between the candidates.

The 30-second DSCC spot opens with an image of newspaper headlines about two controversial bills that come up in the 2012 General Assembly session — a measure requiring pre-abortion ultrasounds, which passed, and a so-called “personhood” bill, which did not . Allen had nothing to do with either bill, though you might not know it by watching the ad. He has, however, voiced support for a federal law that would grant “personhood” status to embryos.

The spot also criticizes Allen for votes to “protect women from discrimination,” reaching all the way back to votes he cast as a member of the House of Delegates more than two decades ago and including later votes he cast as a congressman and senator.

Allen’s campaign said Democrats are emphasizing wedge issues in an effort to divert attention from the languishing economy.

“Tim Kaine’s Washington allies continue to demonstrate how desperate they are to talk about anything but the jobs and economic issues Virginia women face,” said Allen spokeswoman Emily Davis. “Women have been among the hardest hit in the Kaine-Obama economy.  The poverty rate for women is the highest it’s been in 17 years, hundreds of thousands of women having lost their jobs, and many more have given up looking for work.  George Allen has a proven record of working to create over 300,000 jobs, fighting for affordable, quality health care and education for women and he will bring those positive solutions to Washington.”

– Michael Sluss