Hotline On Call

Hotline's Fresh Take On National Politics

Kaine Supporter Hopes Voters Ignore Her

By Shane Goldmacher // September 21, 2012 | 10:29 a.m.

McLEAN, VA -- Sharon Bulova watched the Virginia Senate debate on Thursday from the first row, and with an interesting vantage point.

Bulova is an unabashed supporter of Democratic former Gov. Tim Kaine, but she is also the unwitting star of a recent television ad that is bashing him.

"A kick in the teeth."

That's what Bulova, the chair of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, calls one of the former governor's budget proposals in a new anti-Kaine ad being aired by Crossroads GPS, the GOP-aligned nonprofit affiliated with Karl Rove.

So how does Bulova feel about being the tip of the spear poking Kaine, the candidate she supports, in a TV ad, as well as some mailers?

"I thought it was pretty shabby. I thought it was low to use that quote," she said.

Not that she didn't say it. "I'm an equal opportunity speaker-upper, especially when it comes to budget," she said. But that doesn't take away from her preference for Kaine over former Sen. George Allen, she insisted. "I think he was a fantastic governor," she said of Kaine. "I think he'll be a fantastic representative for us in the federal government as the U.S. senator." But only if voters ignore what she is saying in all those TV ads.