• Associated Press, Tuesday, September 5, 2006 11:33 AM

Republican congressional candidates are running away from an increasingly unpopular George W. Bush in their campaign ads. For example, Rep. Deborah Pryce is struggling to hold onto a seat in a swing district in central Ohio. In 2004, her campaign Web site featured a banner of her and Bush sitting together, but in her latest TV spot, Pryce is described as "independent," claiming she "stood up to her own party" to support increased funds for embryonic stem-cell research. Ironically, as chairwoman of the House Republican Conference, Pryce is supposed to rally her colleagues to the party message. But on issues from the Iraq war to Amtrak spending, GOP candidates are trying to argue that they don't always blindly follow the White House. In Minnesota, where an open Senate seat is at stake, Republican Rep. Mark Kennedy runs an ad titled "Crossing Party Lines." In it, he says "I'm a Republican. On issues like taxes and spending, I vote like it. But on other issues, I cross party lines." In 2002, an ad showed him walking and shaking hands with Bush. A spokesman for the House Republican campaign committee says the ads reinforce successful moderate positions that have helped win swing districts. But Phil Singer of the Senate Democratic campaign committee notes that "a number of candidates who embraced Bush in previous elections are now treating him like a leper." And Shanto Iyengar, a campaign ad expert at Stanford University, says: "In most congressional races, the conventional wisdom is it's all local. But every now and then, it is possible to nationalize these races, and I believe all the stars are in place for that in 2006. "

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