<p>The battle for middle Georgia's 3rd congressional district seems to be getting uglier than it was two years ago, even though the faces haven't changed.</p><p>Republican Calder Clay began his air assault this week with two scathing ads targeting Democratic incumbent Jim Marshall. They come on the heels of several days of political wrangling in which Clay has accused Marshall of being AWOL for a vote and illegally using the same picture on his campaign and official Web sites.</p><p>With just over a month until Election Day, there's little surprise that emotions are charged. Clay lost to Marshall by less than 1 percent in 2002, so it's viewed as easily the best opportunity for a Republican to gain a seat in Georgia and one of few opportunities in the South.</p><p>One of the ads, featuring a bold red X marked across a picture of Marshall in sunglasses, charges that the freshman lawmaker leads a "double life" by voting differently than he campaigns. It rattles off examples from the congressional record, accusing Marshall of being slow to sign a gay marriage man, voting against eliminating the estate tax and opposing funding for disabled combat veterans.</p><p>Marshall, himself a disabled veteran, takes particular umbrage at the veteran charge. Perhaps his top focus of his past two years in Washington has been circulating a petition to eliminate a 112-year-old rule prohibiting many veterans from receiving both retirement and disability benefits.</p><p>Congress took a step toward that this term by allowing Purple Heart veterans _ those hit by enemy fire _ and other with combat-related disabilities to be eligible for both benefits. Clay points out the final version that was approved was sponsored by Republicans, but Marshall says it likely wouldn't have happened without his work.</p><p>"A very significant portion of my work in Congress over the last two years has been to help veterans," said Marshall, who has been one of Clay's adversaries since he was Macon's mayor and Clay was on the City Council. "It's something I'm proud of, something I feel like I'm doing my duty about. He wants to portray a truth other than that truth."</p><p>Marshall says the specific vote Clay cited to beef up funding for disabled veterans would have come at the expense of AmeriCorps, the domestic volunteer program. He says he supports money for both.</p><p>Clay's other ad tries to make the case that Marshall has misplaced priorities, spending his time signing on to fluffy legislation about commemorative coins or making square dancing the national folk dance rather than more substantive topics, specifically tax reform.</p><p>The ad quotes a letter from Marshall explaining that there were not enough hours in the day to take a leadership role on every issue, namely a proposal by U.S. Rep. John Linder, R-Ga., to replace all income taxes with a national sales taxes. Marshall said he isn't necessarily opposed to the concept but is leaving the leadership on it to others with more expertise.</p><p>"I think Jim Marshall needs to take tax reform seriously," Clay said. "I hear about it every single day when I'm out in all 31 counties, and I believe he should take a leadership role."</p><p>Marshall says it's an unfair attack to charge that his priorities lie with square dancing legislation instead.</p><p>"Well, gosh, how long does it take to think about something like that?" Marshall said, pointing out Linder's legislation is more than 100 pages. "There are many issues proposed in Congress that are very simple, and there are many issues proposed in Congress that are very complicated."</p><p>Charles Bullock, a University of Georgia professor, said it's a common _ and sometimes effective _ tactic for campaigns. Because Marshall's voting record has been relatively moderate compared to most national Democrats, Bullock said, it's a way to cast the incumbent's record in an unfavorable light.</p><p>"I expect part of the idea is to try to paint Marshall as a lightweight," Bullock said. "But how many major legislation initiatives actually get introduced by freshmen? If it was really major, it probably would have been introduced by someone before he got there."</p><p>Clay also recently charged that Marshall was "AWOL" on a vote aimed at limiting frivolous lawsuits. Marshall shot back that he was speaking to the Air Force Association, at the request of the Pentagon. Clay called it "curious timing" for a lawyer to miss such a vote.</p><p>There has also been a war of words between Clay and Marshall about whether the congressman violated campaign laws by using the same pictures and logo on his official and campaign web site.</p><p>"Simply put, Jim Marshall is a law professor, got a law degree from Boston University," he said. "I'm just a good old University of Georgia bulldog graduate, but I know right from wrong. Clearly Mr. Marshall does not."</p><p>Marshall called the charge "silly" but substituted the photos and logo anyway so it wouldn't distract from the campaign.</p><p>"It's not worth arguing about," Marshall said. "When you've got terrorism and the economy and health care, all types of terribly important things, for us to spend even a minute thinking about this is silly."</p><p>___</p><p>On the Net:</p><p>HASH(0x2863478)</p><p>HASH(0x2863520)</p>
