Two nonprofit groups affiliated with Karl Rove, the political architect of George W. Bush's presidency, have launched nearly $1 million in advertising this week to influence Senate races in Colorado and Ohio.

In one, American Crossroads is spending $500,000 to run ads on network TV stations in Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton and Cincinnati to aid Republican Rob Portman, a former Bush aide, in his bid against Democrat and Ohio Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher. They are vying to replace Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio.

In the ad, American Crossroads seeks to cast Portman as listening to "ideas from Ohioans in all 88 counties" to create jobs while other "politicians talk and talk" and drive up federal spending.

Here's the ad:

In response, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spokeswoman Deirdre Murphy said Portman has a "disastrous record on jobs and the economy."

"As one of George W. Bush's closest economic advisers, Portman turned record surpluses into deficits, shipped thousands of Ohio jobs overseas, and watched the trade imbalance skyrocket," she said in a statement. "Make no mistake about it, Rob Portman is Ohio's worst nightmare."

American Crossroads is known as a 527 group, for the section of the tax code under which it is organized. It can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money on political ads, but must reveal its donors. A related group, American Crossroads GPS, also can raise unlimited amounts without disclosing the source of its money.

American Crossroads GPS is spending $425,000 on ads that attack the record of Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., on federal spending.

Here's that ad:

(Posted by Fredreka Schouten)