With less than a month until Election Day and hours before their first debate, Connecticut's Republican candidate for the US Senate Linda McMahon's campaign has released a scathing new ad attacking her Democratic opponent Richard Blumenthal's lies about serving in Vietnam. While this issue may be old news to political junkies who were paying attention when the story first broke in May, video in the new ad of Mr. Blumenthal claiming he served in Vietnam when the truth is he did not will most likely be seen for the first time by many Connecticut voters.

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Contrary to Mr. Blumenthal's statements highlighted in the ad that he "served in Vietnam" and his comments about "when we returned," he actually obtained at least five military deferments from 1965 to 1970 and took repeated steps that enabled him to avoid going to war. When his final deferment was in jeopardy, he landed a coveted spot in the Marine Reserve, which virtually guaranteed that he would not be sent to Vietnam. He joined a unit in Washington that conducted drills and other exercises and focused on local projects, like fixing a campground and organizing a Toys for Tots drive. (source)

A day after the New York Times first revealed the lies (and the truths), Mr. Blumenthal went before the cameras and said, "On a few occasions, I have misspoken about my service and I regret that and I take full responsibility. But I will not allow anyone to take a few misplaced words and impugn my record of service to our country." (source)

The 'misplaced words' defense didn't make any sense then and it still doesn't now. Since the revelations, Mr. Blumenthal has seen his poll numbers versus Ms. McMahon drop from a very comfortable 30 point lead to what is now a statistical dead heat. (source)

This new ad combined with a strong performance by Ms. McMahon in tonight's live televised debate could erode Mr. Blumenthal's chances even more.