A new ad from GOP Rep. Heather Wilson, which hit the air Monday, uses state Attorney General Patricia Madrid's words–or her lack of words–against her. Using footage from the only televised debate between the candidates, it is dominated by a single shot of Madrid struggling to answer a question from Wilson about whether she could cite anything in her record that would reassure voters she would not raise taxes if elected.

After the question, Madrid pauses for several seconds, sighs, and begins with, "Your president and you have." She then pauses again, and goes on "have voted for a tax relief." The ad ends with the text, "Patricia Madrid...Don't take the risk."

During the debate, Madrid did eventually give an answer, though she focused on Wilson's support for Bush's tax cuts rather than her own record. That portion of the debate is not shown in the ad.

Albuquerque's KOB-TV, which televised the debate, reported Sunday that the station asked the Wilson campaign not to use the clip but that Wilson is legally allowed to use debate footage. Wilson had pressed for three televised debates with Madrid, but the attorney general had agreed to only one, along with a debate September 17 that was not televised.

The Madrid campaign released a response ad this week calling the clip from the debate "misleading." In the ad, titled "Silence," an announcer says, "Let's listen to every tough question Heather Wilson ever asked George Bush about the war in Iraq." The ad then features several seconds of silence, while displaying pictures of Wilson and Bush together. At the debate and in conversations with reporters since, Wilson has declined to directly answer a question from Madrid regarding whether she thought Bush was a good president.

–Will Sullivan