The adwatch department of the Rocky Mountain News examined a new ad against Allard by the child advocacy group Every Child Matters and found each of the three charges true.

Here they are:

• "Wayne Allard voted against health insurance for children."

• "Truth test: True. Allard and 15 other senators voted on July 31, 1997, against a measure creating an insurance program for children of low-income families whose incomes weren't low enough to qualify for Medicaid nor high enough to pay private health-insurance premiums. The measure was a budget- balancing bill covering many government agencies. Allard told a reporter afterward that he also had other reasons to vote against it, including failures to restructure Medicare and cut government spending substantially in other areas. However, Allard specifically said he viewed the $24 billion insurance plan for children as a "new entitlement" of which he disapproved."

• Allard voted "Against programs that protect children from abuse."

• "Truth test: True. On Sept. 30, 1999, Allard and 38 other senators voted to kill increased federal grants to states for a wide range of social services, including programs for troubled families and children."

• "98 to 1," the vote in the U.S. Senate on funding for fetal alcohol syndrome prevention and treatment. And Wayne Allard was the only member of the U.S. Senate to vote against protecting babies from alcohol and drug addiction."

• "Truth test: True. On June 28, 2000, Allard cast the Senate's lone vote against increasing funding from $15 million to $25 million for a program to protect and treat children with mental retardation and other disabilities caused by maternal consumption of alcohol during pregnancy. Fellow Colorado Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, a vocal supporter of the program, voted for it, as did every other senator present from both political parties. The Allard campaign has said he feared the increased funding would shortchange Colorado-based hantavirus research."

We don't know too much about campaign advertising, but to us this is a very persuasive ad. Who would vote for a guy with this voting record?

You can view the ad online here