Schmidt misfires at Wulsin for 'cowards' ad

Rep. Jean Schmidt blasted Democrat Victoria Wulsin on Wednesday for allegedly breaking a U.S. House rule that prohibits using the broadcast of House floor proceedings in campaign ads.

"Her continued violation will land her in serious trouble with the House Ethics Committee," Schmidt's spokesman Matt Perin said in a release, referring to the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, which the release mistakenly referred to elsewhere as the "House Committee on Official Standards and Conduct."

Besides those errors, there's just one more tiny problem: Wulsin, who is challenging Schmidt in the 2nd District, is not a member of the House. Not yet anyway.

Wulsin's new ad shows a red, white and blue-clad Schmidt telling Democratic Rep. John Murtha, a decorated retired Marine from Pennsylvania, that "cowards cut and run, Marines never do."

Schmidt, a Miami Township Republican, was booed after her Nov. 18, 2005, speech. It's against House rules to refer to another lawmaker by name or to disparage them on the House floor.

"The only person in this race who has broken House rules is Jean Schmidt," Wulsin spokesman Ady Barkan said. "If she didn't want people to see this ad, then she shouldn't have given that speech."

UPDATE: Read Schmidt's release and "Dear Victoria" letter HERE.