Claims Department: Senator

SPONSOR

Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee

WHAT THE AD SAYS

AUDIO: "Why is Elizabeth Dole ranked 93rd in effectiveness? She voted for millions in pork, including Alaska's bridge to nowhere. But for North Carolina? She voted with George Bush 92 percent. Against raising the minimum wage time after time. Against helping families struggling to keep their homes. For the largest cut ever in student loans. Elizabeth Dole, fighting for ... Alaska? Definitely out of touch with North Carolina.

"The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is responsible for the content of this advertising."

IMAGES: The ad shows images of Dole and an Alaskan landscape, including a brown bear.

WHAT THE RECORD SHOWS

The ad makes several claims about Dole's voting record.

BRIDGE TO NOWHERE: Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens requested an earmark in the 2006 budget for the proposed $398 million "Bridge to Nowhere," which would serve an island with 50 residents.

In October 2005, Republican Sen. Tom Coburn proposed an amendment that would have shifted $75 million from the bridge and another project to the rebuilding of a bridge destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

The amendment failed, 15-82, with Dole voting against it.

Congress later stripped the earmark, but it gave the state of Alaska an equivalent amount of money for any use.

MINIMUM WAGE: Starting in 2005, Senate Democrats tried to raise the federal minimum wage.

In March, Sen. Ted Kennedy proposed raising it by $2.10 over 26 months. As a counterproposal, Republican Sen. Rick Santorum proposed raising it by $1.10 over 18 months while exempting more businesses.

Both amendments failed. Dole voted against the first amendment, but for the second.

In October, Senate Democrats unsuccessfully tried to raise the minimum wage by $1.10 an hour over 18 months. Dole voted against that raise as well.

After Democrats gained control of the Senate in 2006, they pushed the minimum wage increase again. Dole voted for the first bill, which was never signed into law. The wage increase was later included in an emergency spending bill that Dole voted for as well.

ENERGY ASSISTANCE: The fine print on the section of the ad on struggling families cites a vote on home energy assistance.

In 2006, Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine proposed spending an additional $1 billion in the 2007 budget for one-time assistance to people who need help paying their heating and cooling bills.

Dole voted against an amendment on the measure, which later passed.

Spokesman Dan McLagan said Dole objected to how the money would be spent.

"The vast majority of the package was aimed at cold-weather states," he said. "All this money was going to go to Northern states for a winter that had been mild, versus Southern states that had a hot summer."

In 2008, Dole successfully pushed another measure for more spending on the same program. She received an award for her efforts from the National Fuel Funds Network, a nonprofit coalition of energy assistance providers.

CREDIT COUNSELING: In April, Democratic Sen. Patty Murray proposed spending an additional $100 million on foreclosure counseling this year.

At the time, Congress had already budgeted $180 million for credit counselors.

The amendment failed 44-40, with Dole voting against it.

VOTING WITH BUSH: Washington-based news service Congressional Quarterly compiles yearly figures for how often senators vote with the stated position of the president. The 92 percent figure comes from an average of the yearly scores for Dole, though Congressional Quarterly researchers say that method is inaccurate. Based on its overall score through August, they say the correct figure for Dole is 88 percent.

IS THE AD ACCURATE?

Some of the claims are true: Dole voted against a measure to strip funding for the "Bridge to Nowhere," her effectiveness ranking was 93rd, and she voted against more credit counseling for families facing foreclosure.

Two other claims are missing context: She voted against raising the minimum wage and providing more energy assistance, though she later voted for both. In addition, the vote on energy assistance had little to do with foreclosure. The figure for her votes with President Bush is off by a few percentage points.

STAFF WRITER RYAN TEAGUE BECKWITH