Rep. Gabrielle Giffords

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National Republicans will launch a campaign today targeting Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, unleashing "tens of thousands" of automated "robo calls" to Southern Arizona registered voters.

The effort, which includes radio ads and a Web site, seeks to link Giffords with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and paint her as too liberal for Arizona.

Giffords is not alone. Republicans are similarly targeting other freshman Democrats in competitive or Republican-leaning districts across the country.

The move by the GOP appears to be the first volley in an anticipated fight to reclaim Giffords' seat in 2008. Giffords was elected in November with 54 percent of the vote, replacing Republican Jim Kolbe, who retired after 22 years.

Giffords declined to comment specifically on the Republican effort or any of its claims, saying in a statement that since being elected she has "focused on representing the people of Southern Arizona to the best of my ability."

Her response goes on to say, "During weekends and district work periods, I come home to Tucson and travel throughout my 9,000-square-mile district, listening and learning from my fellow Arizonans on a wide range of policy matters."

The phone blasts will be targeted at registered voters of all political stripes in District 8, and will last about a week, said Ken Spain, spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Republicans are spending roughly $3,500 on radio ads in Tucson on KNST News Radio. The station says the NRCC has purchased 32 spots at 60 seconds apiece in the prime listening slot of 6 a.m. until 7 p.m. The radio ads will also air on KTAN in Sierra Vista.

Southern Arizonans will be directed to a Web site called TheRealDemocratStory.com. Giffords is one of a dozen Democrats targeted in the wave that begins today. Rep. Harry Mitchell, a Democrat representing the east Phoenix area, was previously scrutinized on the Web site and will also be targeted with calls, Spain said.

Chief among the Republicans' complaints is Giffords has voted the same way as Pelosi "96 percent" of the time since being sworn in. An Arizona Daily Star review of their voting records confirms of the 69 votes the two have both voted on, Giffords and Pelosi disagreed on just three, verifying the 96 percent figure.

Their most recent disagreement was on an immediate withdrawal from Iraq. Giffords was one of 59 Democrats to vote no. The measure failed.

Many of the early Democratic measures Giffords voted on were noncontroversial and receive bipartisan support, including an increase in the federal minimum wage, implementation of the 9/11 Commission recommendations and new ethics rules for Congress.

But the NRCC points to other votes, like her support for tying funding in Iraq to benchmark goals. By supporting that $124 billion supplemental spending bill, the NRCC says she supported a "retreat and defeat" strategy and pork-barrel spending.

"She claimed to be one thing on the campaign trail and turned out to be something quite different," Spain said.

In a statement at the time of the vote, Giffords said the legislation would "provide our troops with the equipment they need in combat while also recognizing that Iraqis must take concrete steps towards creating a stable country for themselves."

This isn't the first time the NRCC has involved itself in Southern Arizona politics. Last fall, the group supported Republican Steve Huffman over competitor Randy Graf.

But Graf still won the primary, and went on to lose to Giffords in the general election.

The NRCC pulled its money out of the race shortly after Huffman was defeated in the primary, which Democrats saw as a forfeit.

Now, Spain says Republicans are ready to get back in the game.

"We are going to be in a strong position to compete there," he said. "People need to know that (Giffords) is part of a majority that continues to legislate from the left."