Other articles by Daniel Scarpinato:

Dems' dreams go down in flames Giffords, Grijalva seek $5B for new entry ports Political Notebook by Daniel Scarpinato : Obama's inaugural to include AZ flavor Grijalva, Giffords frequently part ways Lawmakers to hand out gold: Obama- event tickets City's vote on gay marriage Giffords' clear win raises question: What's it mean? Political Notebook by Daniel Scarpinato : Napolitano is mum on attorney general talk Governor won't talk about the Cabinet Observers don't see McCain riding into sunset

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The ad: a 30-second spot for Republican Tim Bee.

The race: the 8th Congressional District, where Bee is challenging Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

The medium: television.

The message: The ad shows a bulletin board with pictures of Giffords and makes several statements about her record.

"Gabrielle Giffords promised to change Washington, but Giffords voted to allow illegal immigrants to join labor unions and took $400,000 in union contributions," the ad says. "Giffords supported amnesty and welfare benefits for illegal immigrants."

The ad then says Bee "opposed amnesty, supports voter ID at the polls, passed laws to combat human smuggling, toughened border security."

The intent: to make Giffords appear liberal on immigration and Bee appear tough.

● Allowing illegal immigrants to join labor unions: Last year, Republicans tried to amend a bill dealing with union elections to "require union organizers to submit cards signed by only U.S. citizens and legal residents." Giffords voted against it, and the motion failed.

Giffords recently called it a "gotcha" attempt by Republicans and said she doesn't think union organizers should be enforcing immigration laws.

● Took $400,000 in union contributions: Giffords has received $424,500 from labor unions if you include every dollar she's raised since her first bid for Congress in 2006.

● Amnesty and welfare benefits: Bee is referring to a vote to expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program. One provision of the bill made it an option for states to request citizenship documentation in order to qualify, rather than it being a requirement. But in its final version, the bill, vetoed by President Bush, actually did include language to say that illegal immigrants can't receive benefits.

As for the claim that Giffords supports amnesty and Bee opposes it, there does not appear to be an objective definition for amnesty in politics.

So, here's the difference between the two candidates' positions:

Giffords supports requirements for illegal immigrants to become citizens that were also supported by Republican Sens. Jon Kyl and John McCain — and they say those do not amount to amnesty because immigrants would need to pay back taxes and fines.

Bee, however, wants a more strict approach, where immigrants return to their home country and get in the back of the line.

● Voter ID: Bee voted for a bill in the state Senate in 2003 to require ID at the polls. Giffords, also in the state Senate at the time, opposed it. Gov. Janet Napolitano vetoed the bill. Its provisions were later passed by voters in 2004.

● Human smuggling: Bee co-sponsored a bill in 2005 to make human smuggling a state crime. It passed and was signed into law.