UPDATED: Gregoire camp calls on Rossi to pull down inaccurate ad

Gov. Chris Gregoire's campaign immediately went after the latest Dino Rossi television ad Monday, saying the Rossi camp is "lying" in the ad about the projected budget deficit, and called on their opponents to pull it from the air.

The ad, which plays an audio clip of Gregoire talking about Washington's budget surplus juxtaposed with an AP report that Washington was projected to have a budget deficit of $3.2 billion during the next biennium. A narrator then says the line, "Is she dishonest, or is she in denial?"

The Gregoire camp says neither, and backs it up with a link to a document from the state's office of financial management showing the current balance at a plus $529 million.

"Rossi likes to play up the fact that he has made millions in real estate and wrote a budget when he was in Olympia, so I find it pretty amazing that he can't read a balance sheet," said Aaron Toso, spokesperson for the Gregoire campaign. "The Rossi campaign should pull their latest ad because it is clearly inaccurate. Republican Dino Rossi is lying to voters. Either the Rossi campaign doesn't understand state law or they're misleading the voters of Washington.  Either way, their ad is false."

Team Gregoire objects to the lack of the word "projected" ahead of Rossi's use of the term deficit. Washington state is constitutionally barred from running a deficit, which it is not doing now. They say the governor is aware of the projections, which they say are the result of poor national policies, and asserts that she balanced a $2.2 billion deficit in 2005

But the Rossi camp still holds strong on their ad, and likens a projected deficit to an ordinary citizen with insufficient funds and looming bills.

"Saying you have a surplus today is like saying you have $529 in your checking account but you also have over $3200 worth of bills coming do," said Jill Strait, a spokesperson for the Rossi campaign. "At home, do you continue to say you have money in your bank account right until your first check bounces?"

This ad controversy comes just over a week after a Gregoire television spot failed to clarify that Rossi specifically did not support embryonic stem cell research, instead saying he opposed "stem cell research" which is inaccurate because he supports some types of cells to be used for medical research. Rossi immediately went up with an ad saying Gregoire had lied about his position and has used the situation in gubernatorial debates this year.  

UPDATE: Today the Seattle Times issued a report calling the ad inaccurate.