We mentioned yesterday that Democrats are bringing in big guns, including Joe Biden, to support Mark Critz in the 12th District special election -- an election that is getting national attention as a bellwether for the mid-terms this fall and the Obama administration.

So it's going to get ugly. We were reminded of that today reading a statement on Tim Burns' rally in Johnstown yesterday, in which the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee referred to him as "Millionaire Burns" while also putting the scare into seniors:

Out of touch Republican millionaire Tim Burns (PA-12) is once again going out of his way to prove that he is clueless when it comes to what’s best for Western Pennsylvania.   This evening, Burns is campaigning with Congressman Bill Shuster, another out of touch Republican who supports a dangerous plan to privatize Social Security that would slash benefits and gamble the program on Wall Street.  The Republicans support this plan despite the devastating impact that plan would have on seniors in Western Pennsylvania.

Millionaire Burns has already proven that he could care less about Western Pennsylvania; in addition to endorsing a plan to raise middle class taxes, Burns also sold his company to get rich quick even though he knew it would lead to job loss in Western Pennsylvania.

Republicans are up to the same thing -- digging up a negative comment about coal that Biden made on a rope line two years ago that was caught on video (a comment he later retracted -- what is it about Biden and live mics?). From the National Republican Congressional Committee:

Mark Critz is receiving this type of support from his friends in Washington because he will push the same job-killing agenda, including cap-and-trade legislation that he supported as a congressional staffer.  Under this cap-and-trade policy, electricity rates will “necessarily skyrocket,” according to President Obama, and jobs across Western Pennsylvania will be cut.

NRCC Comment: “Mark Critz is a Washington insider who supports radical policies that will hurt Western Pennsylvania’s economy and cost middle-class families thousands of dollars a year.  As a congressional staffer Critz helped advance job-killing legislation like cap-and-trade, and now as a candidate he is standing firmly with leaders who believe that there should be ‘no coal plants here in America.’” – Tory Mazzola, NRCC Spokesman

PS: It bears repeating how uniquely political one industry -- coal -- can be, especially in the wake of the latest coal mine disaster in West Virginia. Critz's first television ad (which is still running in the district) is about the Quecreek mine disaster and his second mentions clean coal jobs.

UPDATE: Shouldn't Critz be pulling the Quecreek ad, asks Maria at 2 Political Junkies?