Will this be first Green ad?

There is a Washington Post article today about Republican candidates making a desperate attempt to run away from President Bush in their elections at home. Some of them have voted lock, stock and barrel with him and are now running ads that essentially say "President Bush? Never heard of him!"

On Capitol Hill, Rep. Mark Kennedy (Minn.) and Sen. James M. Talent (Mo.) are known as loyal Republican soldiers, reliable votes for President Bush on tax cuts and the Iraq war. In elections past, they have aired advertisements featuring the president and have stumped with him at public rallies.

This year, both are running for Senate seats, but their television ads have made no mention of Bush -- and have been conspicuous in distancing the candidates from their partisan affiliation. "Most people don't care if you're red or blue, Republican or Democrat," Talent's ad states. A recent ad from Kennedy says, "He doesn't do what the party says to."

That's not to say they won't take campaign dollars raised by a visit from the president.

These Republicans have hardly broken with Bush. Talent and Kennedy, after all, have invited him into their states this year to help raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for their campaigns.

Sound familiar? Will Rep. Mark Green use money he raised from his fundraiser with Presient Bush to run an ad trying to distance himself from the president? We'll see soon.

In the end, it will be hard for Rep. Green to put too much distance between himself and the Bush White House. He was a solid vote for the Bush Team even if it meant voting against the interests of his own district. Bottom line, you could plug Green's name into the following comment and it would fit.

"All these guys are trying to seem like reasonable, moderate guys who are not the scary conservatives who their opponents will make them out to be," Smith added. "But they all have very conservative records and support for the president that will make it difficult for them to duck this."