The Battle For Virginia's U.S. Senate Seat Begins

Former U.S. Sen. George Allen (R) wrapped up the Republican Senate nomination on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Karl Rove's American Crossroads put out a commercial attacking Allen's opponent for his time as the Democratic National Committee Chair. 

"When Tim Kaine went to Washington he left Virginia behind," states the ad's narrator. The commercial cuts to a clip of Kaine acknowledging he started to spend more time in Washington after he took over the DNC.

"As Virginia lost over 65,000 jobs, Kaine put partisan ambitions first," the narrator returns. 

The Kaine campaign says the ad is misleading. 

"He was very successful in dealing with the economic crisis that George Allen helped create," says Kaine's communications director, Brandi Hoffine. "He kept Virginia's unemployment rate significantly below the national average. Virginia was the best state for business all four years that he was governor. Virginia recruited new Fortune 500 companies to move to the commonwealth in the midst of the worst recession in 70 years. "

With the general election campaign just days old, observers say voters in the state haven't seen anything yet, as the Virginia Senate race is expected to be one of the closest in the nation.